Could He Be The One
by Hailey Ambrose
Summary: AU Fiction.The Trouble With Men Is That They're Trouble.Sparks fly between a millionaire's beautiful daughter and the ex-beau who's been hired to guard her. Cena/OC and Miz/OC.He Could Be The One So Don't Let Him Get Away. Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

This is my newest story. It was written a while ago with a friend. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the WWE or the wrestlers in this story. I own only my ocs. This story is fiction and is to be taken that way.

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><p>Summary: Milly Ross can't believe it. The beautiful, brainy millionaire's daughter is stuck with John Cena as her bodyguard thanks to her over protective father. She's doubly shocked at the choice because dear old dad once tossed John's rather attractive backside out of her life. Besides, John's strong, quiet sensuality is making Milly quickly realize that her body definitely needs guarding from his!<p>

Protecting Milly is a job John can handle but what's happened to the Milly he once knew, a woman filled with teasing laughter who'd do anything for a stolen kiss with him? John has his instructions keep her ex husband away and keep her happy but he knows Milly will be happy only when she allows passion back into her life. So how can he convince her that he's the man the job?

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><p>"For this we flew two thousand miles?" John Cena noted the wariness in his partner's voice, but he couldn't quite share Mike Mizanin's distaste for the view even if it did lay on the opposite side of a security gate. He could see right away why Jim Ross's Santa Barbara estate was also known as the "The Keep" but that didn't necessarily mean that he and Mike would actually be prisoners. Not unless Jim Ross really had gone off the deep end this time.<p>

"Four thousand miles if you count the trip back to Cincinnati."

The observation didn't seem to appease Mike. "Why exactly did we come? You promise you'd give me all the details once we got here."

John grinned. "Oh we came to kidnap a woman. Did I forget to tell you that?"

Mike turned and grasped. "We came to what?'

"Oh man, I did forget to tell you." John said feigning contrition. "I could have sworn I at least mentioned to you how we'd be perpetrating a felony while we were visiting sunny California."

Instead of replying, Mike only continued to glare. John grinned and then turned his attention back to the view.

In spite of its oppressive moniker, the Ross estate was breathingtakingly beautiful, a sprawling, low lying Spanish style villa that was invitingly lit inside and out. The elegantly manicured grounds, canopied by the moss dripping jacarandas and lush bougainvillea, evoked sense of utter tranquility. Yeah all right, there was the matter of double steel, reinforced Mediterranean style fence that surrounded the place and the double steel, reinforced Mediterranean style bars striping each of the windows. There was the oh so casually strolling trio of Dobermans who gazed back at him with frank and identical expressions of challenge. And of course the one, two, three, four armed guards placed strategically about the roof and balconies did sort of contribute to that prisonlike quality.

Maybe Jim Ross really had gone off the deepest of deep ends this time, John thought. He honestly hadn't considered that to be a real possibility when Jim had called him earlier in the week not even when the old man asked John to kidnap his daughter. Jim Ross had always been considered eccentric by the residents of tiny, suburban Woodhaven, Ohio. But what did it really bother.

Okay, so Jim's place was a fortress, he conceded regardless of its indolent beauty. Lots of people lived in fortresses. Granted most of those people had either committed heinous crimes or were madder than haters, but that was beside the point. For now John decided, it might just be best to reserve judgment on that deep end business.

"Um, I didn't think it would be necessary to remind you." Mike said scattering John's thoughts. "But we work as private investigators. Which means we're the guys who would normally investigate kidnappings. Not commit one."

"A minor technicality." John assured his partner. "We go where the jobs take us. And this job should be verrry interesting."

"Oh, I don't like the sound of that at all." Mike said.

"Trust me."

"I like the sound of that even less." Mike replied. "So this Ross. Is he a total security freak or what?"

"Nah." John answered. "Jim's just your garden variety paranoid that's all. Except that he has a couple of hundred million more dollars than most paranoids."

"Mm." Mike remarked eloquently.

"He also has one of the most unbelievably delicious daughters on the planet." John added cheerfully before he could stop himself. Because in recalling Jim Ross he inevitably also recalled the lovely and talented Milly Ross who he attended Woodhaven High School in Cincinnati. And with whom he'd shared one of the most….

Well best not to go there. He had a long night ahead of him after all. Not to mention that kidnapping business to consider.

"Finally, you say something that makes you sound like your usual self." Mike said. "I was beginning to get concerned about you, John."

"Jim's daughter is the one we're supposed to kidnap."

Mike sighed. "Okay I'm concerned about you again."

"Not to worry." John told him. "I have a plan."

"Now I'm really concerned."

"Then I guess I shouldn't tell you the other stuff about Milly Ross."

"What other stuff?"

"Oh like how she was such a firebrand in high school."

"Firebrand huh?" Mike didn't sounds impressed.

"She could scratch a man's eyes out at twenty paces." John told him.

"Must have had some long arms."

"I was speaking figuratively."

"Whoa. You've been reading those How to Expand Your Vocabulary books again, haven't you?" Mike asked dryly. "I didn't realize you had a figurative bone in your body. Figuratively speaking, I mean."

John narrowed his eyes at the other man. "Why do I suddenly feel like I'm the Costello to your Abbott?"

"Better than being the Lewis to my Martin." Mike looked and saw the gate still closed. "Are we early?"

John shook his head. "Seven o'clock. Right on time."

As if hearing his statement, the gate slowly began to roll to the left, its soft hum accompanied by the whisper of the warm California breeze and the distant splash of the Pacific. John turned around to double check that the rental car was parked safely. As he did, he could see the ocean some distance beyond, rising and falling like bright sapphire satin. The sun hovered just above the watery ribbon of the horizon.

John sighed. Maybe by dawn JR would have changed his mind about hiring John and Mike. Then John could go back to Ohio and live the life he'd mapped out for himself and try to forget all about the Ross'. He turned his attention back to the Keep and he tried not to think about now. He tried even harder not to think about then. But somehow, the two kept getting tangled up with each other. And the joining factor between them was inescapably, Milly.

The gate had completed its journey by now, leaving nothing but warm, fragrant air between John and his new destiny. Mike, he saw had already passed through to the other side but John found himself hesitating before taking the necessary steps.

"So, tell me more about this disagreeable, delicious daughter." Mike said.

John forced his feet forward and contemplated the question before responding to it. Wondering how to describe Milly Ross without coming off sounding like a lovesick puppy. What could he tell Mike about her. How her perfect blue eyes were the color of the sky on a clear day. How her honey blond hair shined in the sun. And how could he describe without sounding like an idiot, Milly's pink lace bras and panties that matched exactly under things that smelled as sweet as ripe roses after a soft summer rain.

"Eh, she was all right, I guess." He finally said with profound understatement in response to Mike's question. "Did I mention she has a sister?"

"No, that was another minor detail you neglected to bring up. Will we be kidnapping her too?" Mike's voice had a touch of sarcasm in it.

"Don't know yet. JR wasn't real clear on his plans for Mae."

"What's Mae like?"

"Mae was always kind of… I don't know." He told his friend. "I guess I never thought much about her. Nobody did."

"Why not?" Mike asked. "What was wrong with her? Was she that unattractive? Was she one of those girls who had a great personality?"

John realized he couldn't answer Mike's question right away. Not because Mae Ross wasn't easily described, but because he honestly hadn't given her much thought, even though she was Milly's fraternal twin and one would think that twins would naturally constitute collective thinking.

"I don't know. Back in high school she was just one of those easily overlooked kids. Quiet without being shy, smart without being brainy, plain without being unattractive, unremarkable without being invisible. She was nothing like her sister."

But then nobody was like Milly Ross. John couldn't help thinking to himself. He and Mike now stood at the entrance of Jim Ross's abode. The double doors might seem like standard issue mahogany to the casual observer but to someone like John, who made his living as a private investigator, they were the equivalent of a shark infested moat. He pressed the doorbell and waited. Wondering what exactly JR had planned.

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	2. Chapter 2

No sooner had he pressed the doorbell than a housemaid opened the front door. In her early fifties, she wore a standard domestic's uniform of gray polyester dress and white apron, along with sensible shoes. Her hair, a mix of gray and white was bound discreetly at her nape, and her face was schooled into the standard servant's expression.

Her arms, John couldn't help but notice were the size of sanitation trucks, and he realized that JR had hired his domestics for more than their household skills. Those souls seemed perfectly capable of unmanning a guy with one swift maneuver.

"Senor." The woman said with a slight nod to John. She the repeated the action to Mike. "Senor, Ross is expecting you, no?"

"Oh yes ma'am." He replied with the same carefully construction courtesy the housemaid had used herself. "He's expecting us."

"This way, por favor."

Never one to disregard an order from someone who could unman him with one swift maneuver, John readily obeyed. Mike did the same. The moment they entered the house, the maid closed the door and discreetly bolted it three times then turned to make her way silently across the cavernous foyer and into the bowels of the estate. As he followed her through the massive house and up a flight of stairs, John formed a quick impression of terra cotta tiles, earth toned walls, Mediterranean furnishings, expensive, abstract art, and soft Spanish guitar music that seemed to accompany them from room to room.

So intent on the house that John nearly barreled over the housemaid when she came to a halt in front of another set of doors where he concluded must be Jim Ross's office. The maid rapped lightly on the door three times, paused, the rapped twice more. An answering trio of raps came from the other side then the woman tapped two more times.

Somehow John refrained from rolling his eyes. A code? He wondered. With all the other security measures in the place, Jim Ross actually insisted on a secret knock at his office door?

The sound of yet another bolt turning brought John's attention back around, and then the door was creaking open slowly, ominously. His heart actually began to hammer harder in his chest and heat flamed in his belly as he watched the seemingly endless movement until finally Jim Ross appeared on the other side.

The last time John had seen the man, he had been eighteen years old and bleeding from the lip. That was because Jim Ross had just popped him one in the mouth. And that would have been because John hadn't brought Milly home from senior prom like he should have. No, John had just left her there, in the backseat of Adam Copeland's car half dressed and crying.

In hindsight, he supposed he couldn't really blame JR at all for his reaction. Hell, John would have split a lot more than a lip on any guy who'd deserted his daughter if he had one. Still he wished the old man had bothered to get the whole story before he'd coming gunning for John.

"John." JR greeted him with a surprisingly amiable smile. On the phone three days ago, he had been all gruff businessman and professional courtesy. "Good of you to come, thank you Carlotta. Come in. What are you drinking?"

John glanced first at his own empty hands then at Mike's. "Um, nothing at the moment sir."

JR chuckled. "Very funny, John. I remember you always were a joker."

Right." John replied. Somehow he refrained from asking the old man if he himself had just been joshing sixteen years ago when he'd fed John that knuckle sandwich. "Whatever you're having is fine, Mr. Ross."

"Call me JR." The older man decreed. "How about you, Mr. Mizanin, is it?"

"Mike is fine." He replied. "I'll just have bottled water."

Wuss, John thought. He really was going to have to take Mike out some night and get him loaded. Mike really did have no idea how to enjoy himself. As their host and potential employer went about seeing to their libations, John took in the rest of office and immediately felt as if he had wandered onto the set of a daytime drama.

JR finished preparing and distributing their drinks, then returned to the bar to retrieve his own. "I guess you're wondering why I've called you here tonight." He smiled again. "God, that was dramatic, wasn't it? I've always wanted to say that to someone."

"Is that why you called us here tonight?" John asked.

JR's smiled fell. "No. I called you here because I want to hire you. Both of you."

"Yes, you did mention that on the phone." John said. "And as much as I appreciate your footing the bill to bring us out here. We need to discuss this little job you want us to complete."

"I thought I made myself clear on the phone."

John thought carefully before continuing. "Uh, forgive me sir."

"JR."

"Sir, but I'm kind of confused about why exactly you'd like Mike and me to kidnap Milly."

JR immediately looked troubled. "Oh, no." He said. "No, John, you misunderstood me on the phone. I don't want you and Mike to kidnap Milly."

John narrowed his eyes at him. "You don't? But"

"No of course I don't. Want kind of father do you think I am."

"Well."

"I mean asking two men to kidnap one unsuspecting woman? That's crazy."

John was relieve to hear JR admit that the plan was nuts. That would save John the trouble of having to point out that the plan was nuts

"It will only be necessary for one of you to kidnap Milly." JR told him.

Uh-oh. He was nuts, John thought.

"You John." JR said further. "Milly knows you. It will work better if you're the kidnapper. Mike here can take Mae."

"What?" Mike exclaimed. Then inanely he added, "But I've never met her."

"Oh don't worry." JR told him. "I don't think it will be necessary to kidnap Mae. She's infinitely more reasonable than Milly. Mae was always the good twin, you know. But Milly has always been a handful, ever since their mother died, when the girls were nine. Milly never did what was told. But then, I don't I need to tell you that, do I John?"

"Sir, about what happened on prom night."

But his host waved him off before he had a chance to continue. "You don't have to explain." JR said. "I know what actually happened that night. I found out the real story the following day."

Oh great, John thought, his stomach knotting into a fist, even if JR's hand wasn't. "So then Milly told you."

"Everything."

"That night, when she got home, she was too upset to make sense of anything. Much of what she did tell me was just bits and pieces, and I drew my own erroneous conclusions. The next day she was in better shape and she explained what happened. And I apologize John for you know."

"The fat lip?"

"Yes, that." JR had the decency to look sheepish as he glanced away, focusing on something over his shoulder. "Anyway, I shouldn't have gone off half-cocked the way I did."

"Don't worry about it." John told him. "It was a long time ago."

"It wasn't that long ago." JR said cryptically. "Still, I suppose I should have apologized to you sixteen years ago but it was a touchy situation.

"And um there was also that small matter of you and Milly and Mae leaving Woodhaven under cover of darkness a week after it happened." John threw in for good measure. "Without leaving a forwarding address."

JR dropped his gaze back down to his drink. "Well, yes that too did sort of hinder any apology."

"Time out." Mike interjected. "You guys took off down another road completely and left me standing here eating your dust."

"Mr. Ross here. Made some shady business deals that went bad and some shady characters were looking for him. But that was small town gossip."

"Cincinnati's not a small town." Mike observed.

"No, but Woodhaven is." John said.

"It was just a misunderstanding." Was all JR said.

John studied JR wondering just what the hell had happened sixteen years ago to make the man abandon a house and uproot his daughters to move across country and live in fortress populated with armed guards and vicious dogs.

Before John could ask anything else, JR went on. "But getting back to kidnapping Milly."

John eyed JR for a moment. "You know, Mr. Ross."

"JR please."

"Mr. Ross." John continued. "I think I speak for both Mike and myself when I say in regard to this kidnapping, what the hell are you thinking?"

"Its long story."

"And we flew a lot of miles to hear it."

"My daughters are intent on attending their fifteen year high school reunion in Cincinnati next week." JR eyed John with some confusion. "You didn't know about the reunion? Didn't you receive an invitation? Milly and Mae got theirs months ago."

"Of course I got one." John lied.

He told himself the reason he didn't get one was that he didn't stay in contact with people from high school. His residential address was unlisted even if his business number was listed in three different places in the phone book. He was just hard to find these days. That was the reason no one had mentioned the reunion. Not because they still loathed him because of that prom night fiasco.

"But neither attended the ten year reunion. I was there." John replied. He had been at the reunion but found out by accident. He didn't get an invitation to it either. He had crashed it in order to attend but no one spoke to him the whole time.

"Mae didn't come because she couldn't fit it in to her work schedule. Milly didn't attend because her prick of a husband wouldn't let her."

Two parts of JR's statement caught John's attention. The part about her prick husband and wouldn't let. He had never heard the words wouldn't let used in mention with Milly Ross. There was no letting Milly do anything. She went her own way and spoke her mind.

"Milly is married?" He asked trying to act not too shocked.

"Divorced." JR quickly corrected both John and himself.

And just like that, the world began to turn again. Slowly John's heart started to beat again. The room stopped spinning and reality stopped shifting.

"The divorce was final just a few months ago after a very long and ugly separation. Milly's been living here at the estate for the last three months. Mae talked her into it, even if I couldn't. None of us trust her prick ex husband not to come looking for her."

The sick feeling felt through John's belly again. "You think he'd hurt her?

JR hesitated before answering. "I don't know. To be honest I'm more worried that he'd try to talk her into going back to him."

"And would she?"

"I hope not."

John wondered if that was why JR wanted him to kidnap Milly.

"Anyway, because of the misunderstanding years ago, I'm worried when Milly and Mae go back for the reunion."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say shortly before I left Cincinnati with Milly and Mae, I was the recipient of a few distasteful suggestions where my daughters' safety was concerned. I'm worried that should the girls ever return to Ohio those distasteful suggestions might very well become reality."

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	3. Chapter 3

"But that was sixteen years ago." John pointed out. "How can you be sure that those threats are till valid?"

"There is no statute of limitations on a threat." JR said simply.

"That threat would be?

"There was a bit of trouble with a business deal I made. The details aren't important. Suffice it to say that I got involved with someone I shouldn't have. And the deal went sour. The individual decided that I had deliberately cheated him out of some money."

"How large?" John asked.

"Very large." JR told him. "This individual was certain that I was responsible for him losing the money."

"Who is this individual?"

"Its not important he died three years ago."

"Then what is the problem?"

"The problem is his daughter took over and she has made it clear that she's interested in settling old debts."

"Who exactly is threatening your family?" John asked annoyed by the vagueness of JR's answers.

"Sixteen years ago, it was Vince McMahon."

John shook his head. "I'm not familiar with the name."

"He kept a low profile."

"And now his daughter is managing his affairs?"

JR nodded. "Stephanie McMahon called me three years ago to talk about my debt to her family. She said her father had been willing to overlook the debt as long as me and my family stay out of Ohio and she is willing to do the same provided we continue to stay out. But should any of us return, she will be obligated to make good on her father's original plan for my daughters."

"And that plan was? Kidnap them? Kill them? What?'

JR gazed thoughtfully down into his drink. "I took the girls and left Cincinnati sixteen years ago because if I hadn't, Vince made it clear that he would take them from me. I don't even want to think about what he would have done once he had them. The man was already half-crazy before the deal went bad."

JR shook his head slowly as if he still couldn't believe what the other man had threatened to do. "I managed to elude him for several years after leaving. But eventually he found out we settled in Santa Barbara. I paid him part of the money he said I owed him. As long as we stayed out of Ohio, he was content to maintain the status quo. But he made it clear that if I or the girls came back to Cincinnati, he'd." JR swallowed hard but didn't specify. "After he died, his daughter made sure I knew it still stood."

"I'm afraid I still don't understand all of this." Mike said.

Until his friend and partner had spoken up, John had honestly forgotten he was there. Funny how talk of another time, another place, could carry a person back to that destination. He gazed out at the ocean. For a moment he'd been eighteen again, back in Cincinnati and worried about Milly Ross. Because someday she was going to bite off more than she could chew and then she'd be in trouble and he wouldn't be around to help her out and then where would she be?

Her prick husband wouldn't let her. He thought about the words. Sounded like maybe Milly had already been there.

"Mr. Ross." John said moving to a chair. "I'm a little confused. Maybe it would be better if you just started from the beginning and told us exactly what you need."

Milly Ross really needed to get away for a while. Not so much to embark upon an adventure. She didn't need hills or breathtaking scenery. She just needed to get away. Away from Santa Barbara, away from her father's paranoia, away from her sister's mothering, and away from the tragicomedy that her life had become.

As she stood on the wide balcony fronting her father's house thinking that its nickname The Keep was feeling way too appropriate these days. She gazed out at a last scrape of sunlight that hovered above the ocean. She felt a soul deep yearning for something. She had no idea what just something.

One of her college professors had once said that this type of feeling had a name but word eluded her now. Buried in the part of memory that carried happier days she spent as an undergrad English major at UCLA. They were days that seemed now to belong to someone else. And Milly supposed that in a way they did. Because they were part of her life that David Batista hadn't cooed and cajoled his way into. Years that had been reasonably carefree and reasonably enjoyable. It had been a long time since anything in Milly's life had been reasonable.

Probably she thought that was because these days she didn't much recognize herself. She'd been robbed of who she was, of who she used to be, and of who she might have become. And even though she hadn't been anywhere close to David Batista for nearly three months even though god willing she would never have cause to see him again, there were times when she didn't think she'd ever be out from under his thumb.

She walked back into the room and wondered through the doors to Mae's bedroom. So much more inviting than the guest room Milly had been occupying at the estate for the last few months yet somehow so much more repelling.

Slowly she made her way back through those doors feeling as if she were passing through a time portal that spanned sixteen years. Mae had decorated it exactly like her room in Woodhaven. The dolls from her childhood were still sitting on the bed. Mae couldn't bring herself to give them away.

Milly knew it was because Mae still embraced a decade old fantasy of marrying blond Chris Irvine and having a house full of beautiful daughters. This despite the fact that Chris Irvine had married someone else after high school and was living thousands of miles away and hadn't spoken to her in nearly sixteen years.

News that Chris was a widower now and had been for nearly a year. He had three beautiful and motherless daughters and he would be attending the high school reunion. Milly had no doubt that that was the primary reason Mae wanted to go. Because Mae was certain that Chris who had literally been the boy next door back was her destiny.

Milly walked toward her sister. She noticed her reading. She had to smile because Mae was exactly the same as she had been sixteen years ago while Milly had changed so utterly.

Mae looked up as Milly drew never. "Did Carlotta find you?" She asked. "She said daddy wants to see both of us in his study at seven-thirty. And it's almost time now."

Everything about Mae was elegant and delicate, Milly noted with no small admiration. With her pale blond hair, pale blue eyes and pale ivory complexion. She was dressed in a cotton sweater set with pearl buttoned and faint lavender in color over slim faded jeans and sandals, Mae was the epitome of fresh scrubbed golden California Girl. They were as different as two people could be let along twins.

Milly looked down at her own outfit. A shapeless taupe tunic hanging untucked over even more shapeless taupe trousers. She'd swept her blond hair up into a simple French twist. She knew she looked laggardly and dull but she honestly didn't care.

"Carlotta told me that daddy wanted to see us but she didn't say why."

Mae smiled. "Probably he's going to try one more time to talk us out of going to Cincinnati."

"Probably." Milly agreed. "Or else he'll try one more time to sell us on that ridiculous idea of taking bodyguards with us."

"Oh I don't' know." Mae countered mildly. "I kind of liked the bodyguard idea. It was terribly romantic."

Milly chuckled. "You're been reading too many books."

"You talk like that's a problem."

"No, it's not a problem. Just not very realistic. Not that I wouldn't enjoy it if life were more like books."

Mae smiled but there was something a little sad in her expression. She rose and closed her book. "I wish that life was more like books all the time."

"Come on." Milly told her. "Daddy's waiting for us. And for some reason, I feel like we're in for a little surprise."

Milly's words came back to haunt her only moments later because the little surprise she had suspected turned out to be a great colossal shock. When she first walked into her father's office she realized that yes they were indeed going to revisit the bodyguard thing. That could be the only explanation for the big man standing near her father's desk with his back to her. Tall, dark and brooding. Yep a bodyguard as they said Southern California, fer shur.

And oh look she thought further when she detected the presence of another person in the room. The bodyguard had brought a friend for her sister. Well wasn't that so nice? And wasn't that such a coincidence? And wasn't that so convenient? And wasn't that

John Cena?

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	4. Chapter 4

John spun around quickly, as if he'd heard her summon him and only then did Milly realize that she had spoken his name aloud. Judging by the expression on his face, he was no more prepared for her than she was for him, even though he'd obviously had some warning that she would be here. Because he was staring at her as if he couldn't quite believe she was real as if she couldn't possibly be the same person he remembered from high school.

But she wasn't the only one who had changed. She recalled John as a lanky, cocky, eighteen year old boy. He had filled out quite a bit but not an inch of it was fat. He'd just gotten larger all over. Wider across the shoulders, broader at the chest, thicker around the forearms revealed beneath the rolled back cuffs of his shirt. He was even a little taller than she recalled.

Only his beautiful blue eyes looked the same. And the moment their gazes met, her heart began to hammer against her rib cage in a rapid, irregular beat. Some things, evidently, never changed.

John Cena of all people.

"Hey, Milly, long time no see." He said by way of a greeting. Then he smiled showing the dimples that always made her weak.

"John." She said softly.

He opened his mouth to something but her father intercepted. "Well, it's good that everybody remembers everybody."

"Uh, not quite." The smaller blond man near the desk injected.

"Oh right." Her father said. "Sorry. Mike, these are my daughters, Mae and Milly." He dipped his head toward the man. "Mae, Milly, this is Mike Mizanin. He's John's partner."

"Partner in what?" Milly asked directing the question to her father more than to John, even though the latter was a more appropriate recipient. She was still shaken by his presence to actually speak more than a word.

Nevertheless, it was John who answered. As he took a few casual steps toward her. "Mike and I are private investigators. We've been in business together for about four years now."

When Milly saw that John was drawing near, she walked to the bar on the other side of the room and ducked behind it. She pretended that it was because she wanted to pour herself a glass of wine but really it was because she wanted a barrier between them. Anything to keep him at a distance. She was afraid of what she might do if he got too close. Either throw herself into his arms and try to shove her tongue down his throat or run screaming in horror from the room. Still, either way, she would up looking silly.

"Private investigators?" She asked as she reached for the bottle of wine. "Sounds interesting."

When she glanced up, she saw that John had stopped in the exact spot she had just vacated and something inside her that was already coiled way too tight clenched tighter still. Oh yeah, a glass of wine sounded very good. In fact, a bottle of wine sounded good. She uncorked the bottle and poured a glass trying to get her focus off of John.

John's attention was on her too. Focusing in on her face but his expression was inscrutable. He could have been thinking about anything. About the night he had left her crying and half dressed in the back of Adam Copeland's car or about how he needed to remember to gas up on his way back to the airport. Milly told herself she didn't care what he was thinking about. But she knew she was lying through her mental teeth.

"It pays the bills." He said in response to her earlier comment.

"Do the two of you by chance ever do any work as say bodyguard?" She asked.

"Sometimes."

She turned her attention to her father. "I thought we already talked about this, daddy. Mae and I both agree that we don't need or want bodyguards going with us to Cincinnati. Just because you're proposing someone we know this time, that's not going to change anything."

"Actually I believe your sister was fine with the suggestion when I first mentioned it." Her father countered.

"Only because she always does what you want her to." Milly said. The comment was offered without acrimony, as a statement of truth. Mae herself would concur.

In fact, she did. "If it would make daddy feel more comfortable Milly, I don't see the problem."

But Milly did. She intended to return to Cincinnati alone. She didn't mind going with Mae, Mae was her sister, but she adamantly refused to have anyone else accompany her and she made that clear to her father.

"It isn't necessary." She said. "If Mae wants to go along with the idea, fine. She can go along with it. In which cased, I'll go to Ohio by myself but I refuse to have a bodyguard."

"Not even John." Her father asked.

"Wait a minute." John interjected. "Bodyguard? Nobody said anything about being a bodyguard. I thought.."

But Milly's father cut him off before he finished. "John would be a good bodyguard, Milly."

Oh wouldn't he? She thought before she could stop herself. "I won't have a bodyguard." She told her father again, even if she realized the response was intended more for John's ears. "Especially not him."

"Milly, maybe you should listen to daddy." Mae said troubling her further.

Although Milly and Mae had never had the fast and true relationship that most twin sisters shared. They had never been adversaries, either. There had always existed between them an unspoken trust, a silent cooperation and an invisible means of support. When times called for unity, the two of them had unified. When either had felt threatened, both had risen to defend. They had respect for each other's feelings.

"I think you should listen to what Daddy and John and Mr. Mizanin have to say before you decide." Mae added. "Daddy said someone threatened us if we go back to Cincinnati. Even if you don't' take the threat seriously, it might not be a bad idea to have someone with you."

"And what about you?" Milly asked. "You don't take the threat seriously either. Why would you agree to have a bodyguard lurking over you?"

Mae threw a hasty glance at Mr. Mizanin. "No, I don't take the threat seriously but if it will make daddy sleep better at night."

"Milly, I don't want you or Mae traveling any distance by yourselves right now." Her father said in that no nonsense voice that had left Milly quaking when she was a young girl.

Now, though, that tone of voice comforted her instead. These days, she knew her father only used it because he cared about what happened to her. Dave had used a tone that was far worse and for far more insidious reasons.

"Mae and I will both be fine." Milly told him. "You're overreacting."

"I'll feel better knowing you and your sister are properly chaperoned."

"Properly chaperoned?" Milly echoed incredulously. "We're grown women. You sound like we're going to the senior prom.

Oh bad analogy, Milly. Really really bad analogy.

John obviously thought so too because when she braved a glance in his direction she saw that he had squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw tight as if some searing pain were worming its way through his entire system.

And then as if she hadn't already done enough damage, as if some demon had possessed her, Milly, to her own horror, heard herself adding. "And hey nothing happened at the prom did it?"

She regretted the words the moment she uttered them. Why dig up memories of a night she wished she could forget? A night that John must certainly remember even less fondly than she? Who wanted to remember a night when some desperate, irrational girl begged you to make love to her when that was absolutely the last thing you wanted to do? And who wanted to remember that she herself had been that girl?

Before Milly could mumble an apology that might take away the sting, John quickly countered. "Not that some people didn't try their damnedest to make something happen."

The heat of humiliation knifed through her at his remark, but she had no one but herself to blame for bringing it up. "Let's just forget it, all right?" She said softly. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

She wasn't sure but she thought she heard him wince. All he said in reply was "So am I."

She dipped her chin downward. "We won't mention it again agreed?" Especially she added to herself since I won't be seeing you anymore after tonight.

John nodded. "Agreed."

"Children, children." Her father said mildly. "Do you think you could return to the present for a moment and put high school behind you where it belongs?"

Not likely, Milly thought. In spite of everything, a part of her would always be with John. Whether he wanted that part of her or not.

"I don't want John to be my bodyguard." She said with a little more conviction this time. "I won't have him as my bodyguard."

Her father eyed her curiously. "Milly, it's not safe for you in Cincinnati. You need someone to keep an eye on you."

"I don't need anybody." She said. But she could tell that nobody in the room believed that anymore than she believed it herself. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've said my piece and I have things to do. John." She said tipping her head formally in his direction. But she couldn't quite bring herself to tell him goodbye. "Mr. Mizanin, have a good life."

"I intend to." Mike replied.

"Daddy." She contiued. "Tomorrow night will be my last one here at the estate. When I get back from Cincinnati, I'll be moving out."

Milly turned to face her sister who had moved to stand next to Mr. Mizanin. "Mae, I know we planned on flying back to Cincinnati together Sunday but I need to prove a point. I'll be changing my plans and going alone. Just to show you, all of you." She clarified. "That I'll be perfectly fine alone." But the proclamation sounded nowhere near as brave or noble as she had intended for it to sound.

And before anyone could contradict her, especially herself, she spun on her heel and left the room.

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	5. Chapter 5

John watched Milly go with a twist of frustration wringing his gut and a bubble of admiration around his heart. Damn, she'd always had a contrary effect like that on him. Evidently, there were some things that even the passage of sixteen years couldn't change.

Sixteen years had changed Milly though.

He'd barely recognized her when he'd spun around to find her standing in JR's study. She'd been so .. so colorless. And she'd looked so tired. And she'd seemed so beaten down. Her father had indicated that her marriage had been a difficult, unhappy one but John would never have guessed it would have left her looking being like… like that.

Yeah, there'd been a fizzle of something when she'd stood up to her father there at the end. But nothing like the fire and fury that had blazed in her eyes and her soul when she was a kid. Gone too, was the crackle of electricity that had simmered around her wherever she went. There had been a time when Milly Ross wouldn't have been able to enter a room without setting every cell John possessed on red alert. But he hadn't noticed her arrival in the room tonight until she'd spoken his name aloud. And even then, when he'd turned to face her there had been none of the blaze. None of the passion that had once defined her. Milly Ross had always been bright lights and bottle rockets but now? Now someone had extinguished her fire. They might as well have tossed a blanket over the sun.

"Why don't you go talk to her, Mae?" JR said abruptly to his other daughter. "God knows she won't listen to me."

Mae eyed her father. "Milly's not going to listen to me either. Not now, she's made up her own mind. And it's about time I say. If you didn't hear it daddy, then I don't know what to tell you."

JR looked puzzled. "Hear what?"

"Milly's going to go her own way on this." Mae told him. "You won't talk her out of it."

That comment left JR silent. He looked down at his drink.

"Now if you'll excuse me, gentlemen." Mae added turning her attention to the guys. "I have some things to do." She smiled a warm genuine smile. "John, it was really nice to seeing you again."

She threw a hasty glance at Mike and blushed strangely enough. But when she spoke to Mike, the honest emotion fled her voice. "Mr. Mizanin." And then the other Ross sister was gone.

After that John was back where he'd begun earlier in the evening. Standing in Jim Ross's study feeling like he just stepped in front of oncoming express bus. Both Ross sisters had both seen their fair share of alterations. Milly's light had been eclipsed and Mae's invisibility had disappeared.

"Did you see that John?" He vaguely heard JR ask.

"See what?"

"Milly just left in a huff."

"Yeah. So? What else is new?" John turned his attention back to JR, leaving the quandary of the man's daughters for later. "Milly's been in a huff since the day I met her."

JR shook his head. "No, she hasn't. She was never in a huff when she was married. Her prick husband wouldn't let her have any huffs."

There it was again, John noted. Wouldn't let. How could those words possibly be in used in conjunction with Milly? Before he could ask for clarification JR continued.

"Mae is right. Milly just put her foot down. She's made up her mind and she's not going to change it."

John shrugged. "And that would be significant because?"

"I knew this would happen when I called you."

"Knew what would happen?" John asked.

"It's been a long damned time since Milly has shown this kind of gumption." JR said. "And I can see only one reason for why it's come about now."

Not certain he wanted to know the answer to the question, John heard himself ask. "And what reason would that be sir?"

The other man's smile grew broader. "You, John. You being here. That's what's put some spark some life back into Milly."

John gasped at JR, having no idea what to say. "Huh?"

JR nodded slowly. "Mike, why don't you go check on Mae? The two of you can map out your strategy for her travel to Ohio on Sunday. She all but said she'll agree to have you as her bodyguard. That's one bird anyway." He moved to push the button on his desk. "I've called Carlotta. She can show you to Mae's room."

"No problem, Mr. Ross." Mike replied readily. In fact, Mike replied a little too readily in John's opinion. Did the guy have to sound so happy about this assignment? This assignment they hadn't even formally accepted yet? As for John to quote one of his personal heroes, he was getting a bad feeling about this.

Especially after the door clicked shut behind Mike and the housemaid and JR turned back to John, eyes sparkling with mischief. "So, Milly has issued her edict and wont' let me hire you to be her bodyguard. Which comes as no surprise at all because as you may have gathered it's a subject I've already covered with my daughters."

"I did get that impression sir." John replied.

But JR was clearly not bothered by Milly's recalcitrance. "That's okay." He said with the sparkle in his eyes growing more mischievous.

Uh oh John thought.

"Because now." JR said. "We can go back and discuss that kidnapping idea."

"Yeah let's do that." John began eagerly. Call him unrealistic but seeing as how Milly didn't want him as her bodyguard, he was fairly certain she wasn't going to accept him as her abductor, either.

"Don't worry." JR told him. "It will just be a little kidnapping."

"Define little." John said.

"Oh it won't be one of those ski mask, duct tape, trunk of the car kidnapping." He said casually. "That would scare the bejeezus out of her wouldn't it? We don't want to do that."

Well gosh, John thought. That sure was a relief.

"No, what I have in mind." JR went on. "Is just a harmless little abduction."

"A harmless little abduction." John repeated. "Now that's a phase you don't hear every day."

JR ignored his sarcasm. "I have my reasons for wanting you to do this."

JR enjoyed another swallow of his drink and walked to the French door on the other side of the room. John followed his movements with his gaze then noted the faint outline of a woman standing on the balcony outside at the opposite end of the house. She was cast in darkness but he knew of course that it was Milly.

"I blame myself sometimes for what happened to Milly. Her marriage and all I mean."

"What exactly happened to Milly with her marriage and all?" John asked.

For a moment JR said nothing only gazing out at his daughter. "When Milly went down to LA for college, she was alone for the first time in her life. She hadn't had a chance yet to make friends here and she was separated from her family. Mae stayed here at home and attended USC Santa Barbara but Milly of course had to go her own way. Which wouldn't have been a problem except that it came right on the heels of me bringing her across the country. Everything she'd ever had, everything that was familiar to her was suddenly gone. She didn't know anyone, had no point of reference, no emotional or psychological compass."

JR turned around to look at John. "Although she'd never admit it. I think she felt lost at UCLA. Her ex husband, being the predator that he was, detected her sense of isolation and pounced on it."

"He was another student?" John guessed.

JR shook his head. "One of her professors."

"Oh."

"He insinuated himself into her life then made himself a big part of her existence while she was there. First as her professor, then when Milly became a teaching assistant, as a colleague then as something else entirely."

"A lover." John said nearly choking on the word.

JR shook his head. "No. What Dave Batista felt toward Milly wasn't love. It took her long time to finally realize that. Dave, the prick, did his best to keep her separated from her family and what few friends she'd managed to cultivate. He made her think that he and only he knew what was best for her, that only he could make her happy. It happened gradually, I'm sure, but what he did to her was well orchestrated maneuver on his part. I don't think Milly ever saw it coming not until it was too late. But eventually she did come to her senses. Eventually she did see him for what he was."

"A prick." John concluded. JR didn't disagree

What John wanted to ask next, he almost couldn't bring himself to. But he wanted, needed to know. His gut tightened, heated as he asked. "Did he ever hurt her? Physically I mean?"

When JR glanced up this time, his expression was haunted almost fearful. "I don't know, John. I could never bring myself to and Milly doesn't really. I don't know."

John turned his attention to the French doors and saw that the figure had seated herself at the foot of a chaise lounge. For long moments he only glazed at her, feeling the insistent tug of something so strong.

"Anyway," JR continued. "Milly's finally made her break from Dave. But she hasn't shaken his hold. I don't know that she'll ever be completely free of him."

"What do you mean?" John asked.

JR only shook his head slowly. "You saw her. You saw how she is now. She and Dave separated more than a year ago but she's still." He sighed. "After the divorce was finalized three months ago, Mae went down to LA and convinced Milly to move up here to The Keep with us, because she needed to be with her family."

He looked at John before continuing. "Since Milly's moved back up here, Mae and I have tried our best to undo Dave's influence but Milly is so unhappy, John. There no animation, no excitement, no joy in her at all. She just seems so lost. She's not the bright, vibrant girl she used to be. And I don't know how to bring that Milly back."

John hesitated a moment before asking. "And you think me being here could help?"

"What I know is that Milly was never more alive in her life than she was during the years she knew you."

"It was high school, Mr. Ross." John pointed out. "She was young and beautiful and smart. Anything about that time could have made Milly happy."

The other man shook his head. "I'm not as dense as my girls or you like to think. It wasn't high school that made Milly happy back then. And going to her reunion next week isn't going to be what Milly is thinking deep down. It'll take more than a weekend of reminiscing about old times to erase Dave's handiwork."

John eyed the other man thoughtfully. Maybe JR really wasn't as dense as his daughters or John thought he was.

"What has me worried is what might be waiting for both girls in Cincinnati. That's why I called you, John. I knew that you and Mike were private investigators and you provided bodyguard services."

"Yes we do and we are very good at what we do."

JR nodded. "Then you and your partner can keep the girls safe while they're in Cincinnati."

"And you want me to keep Milly safe by kidnapping her?"

"If that's what it takes, then yes."

"There are a few flaws in your plan."

"Yes?"

"I'd be committing a felony. They carried like twenty five years in prison. Now that may not seem like much to you because you would be here at your lovely home in Santa Barbara. But me, I'd be in a federal prison and that's just not quite the same thing at all."

"You're making a joke, aren't you John?"

"Actually sir, I was striving for sarcasm."

"I see. Not to worry, you won't go to prison."

"Yeah well it's not just that. I really don't want to be a party to terrorizing your daughter. Scaring the bejeezus out of innocent women, that kind of thing?" They're just not really a part of my regular day and I don't see me penciling them in anytime soon."

"Please John." JR said. "I know you think I'm crazy and I know you don't want to scare her or hurt her. I don't, either. That's just the point and you still haven't heard my plan. But you have to do this for me. For Milly."

John returned the other man's gaze and sighed. Well, it couldn't hurt to hear JR's plan. Maybe he could point out enough problems with it that he would convince JR of its lunacy. And maybe somewhere along the line, John could convince JR that Milly would be just fine on her own. Hey while he was at it, maybe John could even convince himself of that.

He sighed heavily and walked toward the bar to refill his drink. "All right, I'll listen to your plan. Tell me what it is you want me to do."

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	6. Chapter 6

The evening breeze had ripened to a night wind while Milly was in the house and now as she stood on the dark balcony that was on the second floor of The Keep. She absently brushed her blond hair out of her face until she reached behind her and took the comb out that held them in place. When the wind blew it in her face, she didn't move it this time. She closed her eyes and let it dance wildly across her face. She didn't normally wear her hair loose and hadn't for some time now. Dave had always insisted that she wear it up instead.

She looked out at the ocean putting everything of her mind until the thought of John Cena entered it. She remembered his snug blue jeans and his cocky walk and the way his t-shirts had stretched tight across his lean chest. She remembered once being pressed back against her locker as he'd kissed her long and hard and deep, the hallway around them empty and silent as she felt his body pressed against hers.

When she realized that she was a thirty-four year old woman fantasizing about an eighteen year old boy, Milly collapsed onto the chaise lounge pulled her legs up to her chest, folded her arms over her knees, and pressed her forehead to the back of her hand. And then unable to help herself she began to cry. Not great sobs just a steady stream of tears that came from sixteen years of second thoughts, and what ifs and maybes.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there crying, the heedless wind enveloping her. Eventually the turbulence inside her began to ebb and little by little she pulled herself back together. She'd become very good at that over the years. There had been times when she'd even been able to convince herself, almost, that she'd never really fallen apart to begin with.

She dried her eyes and gazed over the balcony toward the ocean. Santa Barbara was nothing at all like Cincinnati but Milly couldn't quite shake the sensation that she had come full circle tonight. She felt the tears threatening to fall again and directed her eyes to the sky.

"Milly."

For some reason, she wasn't surprised to hear John call out her name. She'd known he wouldn't leave things as she'd left them in her father's study, because he wasn't one for surrendering the last word easily.

"Go away." She told him halfheartedly for all the good it would do. He'd behave as he wanted to.

Just as she'd expected, he ignored her instruction. He sat down in a nearby chair. There was no way that she was going to look at him.

"Why did you come out here?" She asked in spite of that. But the question came out so quietly that she wondered if he even heard it over the soft rumble of the wind and waves.

From the corner of her eye she saw John lean back in the chair. She didn't realize that she was staring at him.

"It was the damnedest thing." He said. "I was in your father's study just now, looking out at you and suddenly the strangest feeling come over me.

Although she told herself not to ask, Milly heard herself asking. "What kind of feeling?"

He hesitated before replying turning his glaze now to her. For a moment, he only studied her face in silence. Then he softly said. "I got the feeling that if I'd glanced down at my watch just then all the hands would have been spinning backward."

She smiled a bit sadly. "Doesn't work that way, John. You can't go backward."

"You sound pretty sure about that." He said.

"That's because I am sure about that."

"I see. Well, you always did know everything, didn't you, Milly?"

"Why yes. As a matter of fact, I did." She said playfully.

He smiled, but she couldn't quite tell if it was genuine or not.

"So how are things in Cincinnati?" She told herself the question would lead to a nice, safe, bland change of subject but after voicing it, she realized how much she honestly wanted to know.

"Cincinnati's changed some." He said. "Woodhaven is totally locked in a time warp. When you go back, you'll feel like nothing's changed at all."

"That would be nice." She said smiling.

She wasn't lying. Milly missed Ohio missed the massive oaks and maples, the rolling green hills, the indolent rippling of the muddy river. She missed seeing the tress stained with red and gold in the autumn. Southern California was beautiful but nothing ever changed here, not outwardly anyway. This wasn't' where she belonged but then Ohio didn't quite feel like home anymore either.

Suddenly Milly felt displaced as if she didn't belong anywhere. She had begun to think that she might not ever find her way back to where she needed to be.

"I'm not going to go back to Ohio with you, John. I'm going to go alone."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"Why is it so important that you go alone?

Milly felt herself coloring and her gaze skittered away from his. "It just is important, that's all."

"Your father thinks you need someone with you."

"It doesn't matter what my father thinks."

Doesn't it?"

"No."

"You don't think anyone in Cincinnati's going to try to hurt you?"

"Of course not."

"How can you be sure?"

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Replying to all my statements with a question."

"Am I doing that?"

"John!"

He smiled at her then and there was just the tiniest hint of the boy she remembered from high school. Unable to help herself, Milly smiled back.

"You always could get a rise out of me." She said softly. "Doing nothing more than being within arm's reach."

"Yeah well, I could say the same thing about you, you know."

He studied her with some intensity for a moment and she wondered if he would try to revisit the past or stay here in the present. Part of her wanted very much to go backward in time with him, if only for one evening. Just to see if they both recalled it the same way.

"Just this once, Milly, do want your father wants. Let him hired me in that capacity."

Oh, so the present it was. Evidently John had no interest in exploring what had and had not happened between the two of them sixteen years ago.

"Why?"

"Because it would easier. Yeah, JR's probably overreacting but what difference does it make? It won't do any hard to let me go back with you. I have to go back anyway." He pointed out with the dimple grin. "Mae doesn't have a problem with Mike going back with her. So, what's the big deal?"

The big deal, Milly thought, was that she had a point to make. For the first time in years, she was out from under anyone's thumb and she needed to prove to herself as well as her family that she would be fine on her own. Alone. It would be too easy to succumb to her father's wants, too easy to let him make all the decisions on her behalf just the way she'd let Dave do for far too long. Milly wanted to go back to making her own decisions. She wanted to be the one in charge of her life. The way she had been a lifetime ago.

She wanted, needed to go back to Ohio because that was the last place, the last time, she had been someone she could like and admire and respect. And she had to get there on her own steam, her own terms. She had to.

"I won't go with John."

He eyed her intently and then nodded with what she could only liken to resolution. "Fine. Then I guess there's nothing else to say."

"No, I guess there's not."

"So, I'll just go to my room and see you in the morning."

Well that certainly got her attention. "Don't you mean you'll just go to your hotel?

He shook his head. "Your father was nice enough to invite me and Mike to stay here at The Keep for the weekend. A very accommodating guy, your father."

Says you, Milly thought. "It's his house. He can invite whoever he wants."

"So I guess I'll just be going back in." John said again. "To my room."

Milly nodded but remained silent.

"In fact, I think I'll be in the room across the hall from your room. That's what your father said anyway."

She expelled a resigned sigh. "Yeah that's daddy. Always planning."

John looked faintly puzzled. "What do you mean?"

But she only shook her head. "Forget it, John."

"Forget what?"

All of it she wanted to say but instead she said. "Just never mind. Daddy's up to something is all. I mean, it's pretty obvious."

John smiled another one of those vaguely familiar smiles. "I don't know. Is it?"

"There you go again, responding with a question."

"Am I? Gee, what was I thinking?"

In spite of herself, Milly smiled again. "Goodnight, John."

"Good night Milly." He said. "I'll see you in the morning."

Not if I see you first, she thought, not if I see you first.

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	7. Chapter 7

Mike Mizanin wasn't sure what to make of Mae Ross's bedroom but one thing about the place was absolutely certain, it gave him the creeps, big time. Here was a woman or more correctly here was what Mike thought of as a woman, but her own private bedroom resembled a twelve year old girl's. Not that he knew much about twelve year old girls but he did know plenty about women. And no woman in her right mind lived in a bedroom like this, one full of dolls and stuffed animals and was that actually a canopy bed? Creepy.

He wondered for a moment if maybe there was something a little off with Mae Ross, psychologically speaking. But neither John nor her father had alluded to anything like that so Mike could only conclude that all of her mental faculties were working fine. Inevitably, that made him wonder about some of her other faculties but he managed to rein in his wayward thoughts before they drifted into areas he'd be better off not contemplating. Not now, not yet. Not until they got to know each other better.

Not that he planned to get to know Mae Ross any better than he had to in order to complete this job, Mike hastily reminded himself. She had obviously lived a sheltered life.

Obviously she didn't have much experience with the outside world, certainly not as much as Mike had himself. If she still lived at home with her father at age 33, how savvy could she be? Hell, she still surrounded herself with dolls and stuffed animals and canopy beds and.. and.. were those actually bunny slippers sticking out from under the bed? Creepy.

"This is really nice." He lied as he took a step forward to enter the bedroom sweeping a negligent hand toward the interior. Not that Mae had actually invited him but Mike had learned a long time ago not to stand around waiting for things to happen. Take action before action takes you. That was rule number one in the Mike Mizanin universe. Rule number two was watch your back. Rule number three had to do with women like Mae Ross. Namely to stay away, far away.

But Mae had evidently learned a few things along the way because before he could complete two steps, she moved in front of him. Mike almost laughed out loud at her gesture. She was much smaller than him and to think she could stop him from coming in. Well wasn't that just the cutest thing? Then again he had halted the moment she stepped in front of him. Maybe she wasn't so ineffective.

"May I come in?" He asked.

How this woman could ever have been viewed as insignificant was beyond him. Her eyes were the color of a summer sky, her hair golden silk and he itched to run his fingers through it.

"Why would you want to?" She replied curtly to his question.

Maybe her voice was a little clipped and cool right now but earlier in her father's study her voice had skimmed over him with the sensual side of a lover's fingertips.

"Your father seems to think we, ah, we should discuss our, um, our strategy for next week." He told her cursing himself for the near stammer. He'd conquered his stuttering when he was a teenager and he wasn't about to go back to it now.

This was ridiculous. Mike never lost track of his thoughts, never allowed his focus to stray one inch from the task at hand. Unfortunately, he realized then that what he really wanted to hand right now was Mae Ross. In fact, he wanted her at both hands and at a few of his other body parts as well.

Ooohh, this was not good.

"I don't think a strategy will be necessary." She told him "I'll right down my flight information for you and you can meet me at the airport on Sunday."

He smiled. "That's not quite going to do it, Miss Ross. Your father wants me to shadow your every step once you leave his house."

Her lips, so full and luscious before, thinned into a tight line. "Then you can meet me at the front door on Sunday. I'll see you then."

"Actually, your father has invited John and me to spend the next couple days here at The Keep. And the next couple nights too." he qualified meaningfully at least it was meaningfully to John. He had no idea if Mae would take his meaning. Then again, judging by her expression, oh yeah. She definitely took his meaning and she didn't like it at all.

Hastily, Mike hurried on. "He wants us to stay here at the house until it's time for you and your sister to go back to Ohio. Presumably, this means he wants me to keep an eye on you around the clock."

"Don't presume anything about my father or me."

She started to push him out the door when he stopped her. He pushed the door and walked in more.

"Don't mind if I come in do you?" He said already inside.

He didn't know why he was behaving so rudely. That wasn't him but the moment that Mae Ross had entered her father's study looking so cool and oh so unattainable, she'd made Mike's going anything but easy.

"Maybe you don't mind but I do." She said to him. She walked over to the French doors and opened them. A salt scented breeze filled the room.

That was exactly what Mike needed. A breath of clean air. Something to chase the scent of Mae Ross from his system. He inhaled a few deep breaths and made himself visualize a scene to bring peace to his mind. He was visualizing a good scene, a mental image of himself sitting out on the beach. The image gave him some peace until Mae Ross invaded it. Wearing a bath suit. A really skimpy one too.

Mike snapped his eyes open again and spun around to face her. Even fully clothed, she was still a staggering distraction.

"Miss Ross. I apologize for this intrusion into your life but maybe we could use the next few days to get to know each other and outline our plans for your trip. From what I understand, we'll be spending a week together."

"We won't be together." She interrupted him.

"Not figuratively."

"Not literally either."

"Not all the time but we will be spending some time together."

"Once we arrived at the hotel." She interrupted him again. "Milly and I will have the suite we've reserved and you and John will have your own room on the same floor."

"Yes, but."

"I may have agreed to go along with Daddy's ridiculous compulsion to hire a bodyguard but I expect you to keep your physical distance from me."

"I understand your concern, Miss Ross but the very nature of our working relationship necessitates that I'll be."

"And when it comes time for the reunion, I will seldom be leaving the hotel, I'll expect you to remain in your room for the duration."

Mike arched his eyebrows in surprise, settled both hands on his hips. "Oh, I don't think so."

"While I'm attending my reunion next week." She said crisply. "I'm hoping to renew an old friendship with someone and I'd rather not have you hanging around, looming over me like King Kong, hindering that renewal."

Mike forced a smile and did his best to ignore the King Kong remark. "Renew an old friendship?

"Yes. I'm planning to look up an old friend."

"You're planning to hook up with an old boyfriend you mean." He guessed.

She averted her gaze from this. "Not exactly."

"Then you're planning to attract the attention of someone you wish was an old boyfriend."

She said nothing in response to that assertion. Mike smiled. "I assure you Miss Ross that I will in no way hinder your progress in that regard."

"I appreciate your assurance. But I'm not convinced that your very presence won't be a hindrance. I wish my father would reconsider this whole bodyguard thing. It's completely unnecessary."

"Is it?" Mike asked.

She nodded but she wouldn't meet his gaze. "Believe me when I tell you that there's nothing in Cincinnati I can't handle."

"Your father seems to be convinced there's a threat to you and your sister both."

"He's just a paranoid. He has been since Milly and I were children. I don't know where it comes from but ever since our mother died, he'd been like that. Maybe losing her just made him irrationally fearful that he would lose us too."

"Sounds reasonable."

"Oh please. There's nothing reasonable about my father."

"He seems okay to me." Mike replied honestly. Jim Ross for all his quirks did appear to be a genuinely devoted father and hey a nice guy to boot.

Mae said nothing for a long moment. "He's changed a lot since we moved to Santa Barbara."

"In what way."

"He was never exactly the most even minded person but ever since he moved us out here, he's been so fearful so afraid there were people out to get him that our family was in danger."

"Look, Miss Ross regardless of your father's convictions one way or another, he's hiring me and John to keep an eye on you and your sister."

"As if Milly is ever going to stand for something like that now that she'd rediscovering herself."

"That's John's problem. You're mine."

She arched her eyebrows coolly at that. "Not that you're a problem."

"Nor am I yours." She said walking over to the door.

"Hey who said I wanted you?" He snapped back before he could stop himself. "I'm sorry. I apologize that was uncalled for."

"Yeah it was. But I guess I'm not making it easy on you, am I? I apologize too. Tensions are running high around here lately. Now, if you don't mind, Mr. Mizanin. I'd just call it a night."

"Alright. I will see in the morning." He walked to the door and turned to her. "Until tomorrow Miss Ross."

"Until tomorrow."

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	8. Chapter 8

Mae closed her bedroom door and locked it and put a chair under the handle. Just let Mr. Mizanin try to get past that. Although whey she would even think he'd want to try and get past that was beyond her. It wasn't like any man had ever tried to fight or finagle his way into her bedroom before. Not that she'd ever wanted a man to fight or finagle or anything else his way into her bedroom in the first place. Oh sure she liked men as much as the next woman but no man had ever captured her interest for any length of time. Well except for Blond Chris Irvine but no other man. Certainly not Mike Mizanin.

She conveniently disregarded the fact that she'd met him scarcely an hour ago therefore he couldn't possibly have captured her interest for any length of time. The point was that Mike Mizanin would not capture her interest because her interest was focused on one man and one alone. Chris Irvine.

She got goose bumps just thinking about him. She couldn't wait until she saw him again next weekend. Blond Chris had lived next door to the Ross's in Woodhaven for as long as Mae could remember. And she couldn't recall a time when she hadn't been totally captivated by him. When they were kids, a more beautiful, more perfect boy had never existed. He was so smart and so charming. He was as she had always thought back then simple too good to be true.

She never told anyone about her crush on Chris except Milly. And she'd only told Milly when they were in high school and only then because Mae had thought her sister would understand. Because by then Milly had had her own crush on John Cena, a crush that John hadn't returned. Not the way Milly had wanted him to. Not the way he was supposed to. Not that Milly or John had ever really understood what was or should have been between two of them. Much the same way that Mae had never really understood was or should have been between her and Chris.

Within a week's time she would be seeing Chris again. For the first time in sixteen years. For the first time since she had impulsively kissed him at the prom, shocking them both for the first time since he had kissed her back shocking both them both even more. For the first time since…..

Well, for a first time in a long time. Mae tried to envision how he would look now with sixteen years, three daughters and the loss of a wife tacked on to his age. Somehow she suspected he was more devastatingly handsome now than he had been then. He had always been the kind of person upon whom Fortune smiled. But the more Mae tried to visualize Chris, the more scattered and indistinct the image became. In its place, the only image her mind's eye would form was of Mike Mizanin.

Milly sat on the patio having breakfast the next morning. She had dug out her old high school yearbook and was looking it over. Thinking back to high school and John Cena.

"Good morning!"

She glanced up to find the object of her reflection coming toward her. He looked at the yearbook and then to her.

"I was just trying to remember who was voted most likely to wind up in federal prison."

He sat down and smiled. "Phil Brooks. He got hauled in to juvie three times during our senior year."

"That's right. He was always picking fights and sabotaging events. Is he in federal prison?"

"No, he and his partner, Mason run a pastry shop and catering service. From what I hear they're famous throughout Southern Ohio for their marzipan."

"His, um, his partner, Mason?" She echoed.

He nodded, "They're partners in both the professional and romantic sense."

She considered this bit of information for a moment. "You know that explains a lot." She eyed John thoughtfully. "So do you stay in touch with many people from high school?"

"Not really. But I hear things."

"So, how do you spend your time?" She asked. "You have your own business."

"With Mike." He added.

"Who you met where?"

He smiled cryptically. "In jail."

She emitted a surprised chuckle. "What?"

"It's a long story."

"I see. Which means you don't want to tell me what you were doing in jail."

He smiled again and said nothing.

"Which leads me to believe you were arrested for something really stupid like jaywalking or not curbing your dog."

John's gaze fell to his coffee as he ran the pad of his middle finger idly around the rim of his mug around once, twice, three times, each slow turn more hypnotic than the one before. For some reason, Milly found the gesture to be profoundly arousing and it sparked a heat deep inside her, in a place that felt warmth for a very long time. She closed her eyes briefly inhaled a slow, steadying breath, then opened them again and pretended that her heart wasn't hurtling around in her chest like a runaway freight train.

"Yes well as much as pride as I might take in being arrested for something really good, like a string of cannibalistic torture murders, you're right. It was something stupid."

Amid the heat rushing through her, Milly somehow found the strength to remark. "Which you're not going to tell me about."

He smiled yet again but still said nothing. He also continued to circle his finger around the circumference of his cup and with each smooth rotation, Milly's body temperature rose a few degrees more and her heart rate accelerated a few more horsepower.

"All right then. Let's try another tack. You two jailbirds are private investigators, I think you said. Isn't that kind of ironic, seeing as how you've both done time?"

"Not really." He replied easily. "Two sides of the same coin and all that. Plus I think I understand the criminal mind much better now that I've been on the inside. For nearly twenty four hours too."

"I see." She said. "So tell me more about this business you compassionate convicts run."

John glanced up at her then curling his fingers into the handle of his mug, so he could lift it to his mouth. And something about seeing his mouth where his fingers had just moments ago been lingering only compounded the pressure and heat expanding in Milly's chest.

"Mike and I opened the business together shortly after we met." John said. "About four years ago. Even though he was only twenty six at the time. Mike was already pretty well established in the field. He'd been doing it for about three years by then. But he was ready to branch out and he was willing to take on partner to do it."

"And you were qualified to become his partner because?"

Again John smiled, but this time there was something a little melancholy in it. "Over the years. I've become very good at looking for things."

"What kind of things?"

"All kinds of things."

"And have you found all the things you were looking for."

"Not quite all of them no."

Milly decided not to push him on that one. Something in his expression just forbade it. "So what were you doing before you landed in jail and met young Mike."

"Most recently before that?" She nodded.

"I was having a beer. Anchor Steam on draft."

She expelled a frustrated growl. Come on John, you know what I mean."

He in turn inhaled a deep breath. "I was in the navy."

"Really?" She asked shocked. "Last I heard you wanted to join the staff of National Geographic as a photographer and go to Ohio State study geography."

"I did go to Ohio State to study geography. For three whole semesters in fact and I've kept up with photography over the years. Comes in handy in my line of work."

"So what happened to your plans?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I felt restless at Ohio State. Distracted. Couldn't focus on my studies. I could just never get into the college rhythm. So I quit."

"You never graduated?"

He shook his head. "I went to see my recruiter instead. I thought maybe I was just impatient to see the world. Joining the navy seemed like the quickest route to doing that. Plus I figured I'd have no choice but to focus if I joined up. I thought maybe I wouldn't feel so distracted."

"And did that satisfy you?" She asked. "Being in the navy I mean?"

"Not really. I saw a lot of the world while I was in but I still couldn't focus. I still found myself feeling distracted impatient."

"And now?" She asked. "Do you still feel impatient?"

He settled his attention on her face, his gaze flicking from her hair to her eyes to her cheeks to her mouth then back to her eyes again. "Yes." He said softly. "I still feel impatient."

Something in his voice in his eyes when he offered his admission sent a frisson of white hot heat down Milly's spine. She closed her eyes for a moment to wait for the sensation to pass. Then when she realized it wasn't going to pass anytime soon, she opened her eyes again. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you still feel impatient?"

"Like I said, I still haven't found what I'm looking for." He said simply.

"And what is it exactly that you're been looking for?"

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	9. Chapter 9

Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, alerted and favorited this story. You guys rock!

Disclaimer: I do not own the WWE or the wrestlers in this story. I own only my ocs. This story is fiction and is to be taken that way.

* * *

><p>John didn't reply to the last question. He only continued to fix his attention on her face, so intently that Milly found it impossible to pull her gaze away from his.<p>

"Are you married? Any children? Or does your line work, snooping on straying spouses and such, make a man want to stay single?"

He hesitated only a moment this time before replying. "No, that's not what's kept me single."

Milly decided it might be best not to ask for elaboration on that. "Then you've never been married?"

"No."

She told herself her curiosity was merely idle, that she couldn't care less whether John Cena had married someone or not. Then she discovered that she was inordinately relieved by his negative response. Nevertheless she asked him. "Ever wanted to be married?"

"I understand your own marriage wasn't exactly happy." He said changing the subject.

Milly's entire body went rigid at his remark. She told herself she shouldn't be surprised that he knew about the circumstances of her marriage. Her father was a talker and it wasn't like it was a big secret. But for some reason, she didn't want John to know about the circumstances of her marriage or divorce. She didn't want him to be privy to that part of her life. She didn't want him to view her as the woman she had become. She wanted to remain in his mind forever as a bright, spirited, seventeen year old hellion.

"You've been talking to Daddy." She said.

"Yes, I have." He admitted. "Was he lying to me?"

She wondered how much she should say, wondered how much she could say without sounding like a whiner or doormat or idiot. Finally she decided to simply tell him the truth. "No, Daddy wasn't lying to you. My marriage wasn't a happy one."

"I see."

Somehow, Milly couldn't quite keep herself from contradicting him. "No, John, I doubt that you do." She said softly. And thankfully, he didn't challenge her. "So I guess you have big plans for today? Like maybe you have a plane to catch?"

He shook his head. "No, plane. When your father called me in Cincinnati and asked me and Mike to come out here for a chat, he invited us to stay at The Keep for the whole weekend before accompanying you and Mae back to Ohio."

"Yes but now that he won't be hiring you."

"Who says he won't be hiring us?"

"Well of course, he's hired Mr. Mizanin to keep an eye on Mae."

"And he's hired me too."

"For what?" She asked. "I told him I don't want or need a bodyguard. What part of that statement didn't he understand?"

John's utterly content expression didn't change. "Your father understood just fine, Milly. But in spite of your objections last night he hired me to complete a job. And I'm going to complete it to the very best of my abilities."

"But—"

"Anyway." He continued blithely clearly unwilling to hear any more of her objections. "It's been a long time since either Mike or I have had a vacation. And neither of us has ever visited California before. We figured we'd just spend a couple of days taking in the local sights, catching some rays, maybe pick up a couple of lingerie models." He sighed with much satisfaction. "Really the possibilities are endless."

"Well you and Mr. Mizanin have fun on your excellent adventure." She said as she leaned back in her chair and reached for her own coffee mug. Just to enhance his California experience, she added. "Dude."

John laughed. And his expression when he did so was dazzling. "Want to come with us?" He asked with undisguised enthusiasm.

Her smile fell and she shook her head. "Thanks but no."

"Why not?"

She shrugged, but the gesture felt and she was sure that it was also looked uncomfortable. "I just don't want to."

He studied her in silence for a moment. "You haven't set foot off of the estate since you go there, have you?"

She glanced down at her coffee unable to meet his gaze any longer. "You've been talking to my father about that too."

"Actually no. I haven't."

"Then it must have been Mae who told you."

No, she's pretty tight-lipped when it comes to discussion of you."

"Ah."

"But you haven't left the estate since you got here, have you?" He asked again.

"No." She confessed reluctantly.

"Why not?"

She tossed off another one of those uncomfortable unconvincing shrugs then said. "There hasn't really been any cause for me to go out anywhere."

"Is that the only reason?"

"Of course. What other reason could there be?"

She figured he probably knew the answer to that as well as she did, but she hoped he would be polite enough not to be mention it. And he was too. Polite about that. What he wasn't polite about was his next question.

"What the hell did your ex-husband do to you to make you like this?"

Before she realized she was doing it, Milly pulled her legs up in front of her and wrapped her arms tightly around them, creating a snug little shield to keep the world away. "I'm not sure I know what you mean?" She lied.

"The hell you don't." He countered roughly. "Look at you. You're timid, colorless, passionless."

And oh wasn't that just exactly what she wanted to hear? Milly thought. Especially from someone like John, someone who knew what she had been before.

"What the hell did he do to you?" He demanded again.

"It's none of your business, John." She said softly.

He inhaled a deep breath and released it slowly. And she could tell from the tone of his voice that it was costing him dearly to remain even tempered when he asked very bluntly. "Did he… did he ever hit you?"

For a long moment, Milly said nothing. Then very softly, she told him. "Only once."

"Only."

But John didn't get out any more words than that one. When he grew silent again, Milly, braved a glanced at him only to find that he wasn't even looking at her. He was gazing out toward the ocean. His cheeks were ruddy with his anger, his eyes were near slits and his jaw was clenched tight.

"It's none of your business, John." She said again.

"It's about to become my business Milly."

"Not if you leave right now."

"I'm not going anywhere. I have a job to do."

She nodded her resignation. He might think he had a job to do and there was nothing wrong in letting him continue to think that. But Milly knew differently. She was going to go back Ohio on her own speed, on her own terms.

Still she felt it was only fair to warn him. "I'm not going to be a willing participant in my father's whatever it is he's hired you to do."

Even though John wasn't looking at her, she could tell that his expression remained impassive. "Gee, now there's a shocker." He said.

"Just so we're clear." She told him.

"Oh we're clear. We are crystal clear." He got up and walked back through her room.

She sighed once he had left, she sat back down and looked out at the ocean enjoying the peace and quiet.

He met up with Mike after leaving her room and they headed to do sightseeing and then to the bar for a drink to discuss things. They sat down at a table that looked out over the ocean. He took a sip of his beer before looking at Mike.

"So, how did you and Mae get on last night?" John asked his friend.

"I did not get it on with Mae last night." Mike gasped raggedly.

John smiled. "I didn't ask how well you got it on with her. I asked how well you got on with her." His smile grew broader. "Interesting though, the way you misunderstood that."

"If you must know…" Mike began

"Oh I must."

"I didn't get on with her either."

This John found surprising. Mae Ross had always seemed like the kind of woman who could get along with just anyone.

"That Mae Ross is one angry woman."

"Mae Ross, angry? That's impossible. You must have said something to set her off."

"I did not." Mike replied. "She views me as a liability because she wants to look up an old boyfriend at the reunion."

"Mae doesn't have an old boyfriend. She never dated anybody at Woodhaven High."

"Then it's some guy she's looking to make a boyfriend now."

"Interesting." John said.

"So enlighten me about something else."

"What?"

"You and Milly. What the hell is up with you two?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because last night, the minute she walked in that study it felt like the air came alive or something.

"It's complicated."

"It was high school. How complicated can it be?"

"I don't know what to tell you Mike. There was some kind of strange attraction between me and Milly when we were teenagers but we never dated. But every time we were within twenty feet of each other, there was a spark."

"So you guys never.."

"What?" John asked.

"You never kissed?"

"Yeah we did once or twice."

"And how did it turn out?"

It had been pretty life altering, John recalled. He'd been cutting class and Milly had apparently had to go to her locker for something.. He still didn't know what came over him. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder turning her to face him. The moment his lips had touched hers, the two of them had connected on some mystical level and it scared the hell out of him. But he hadn't been able to pull away from her. Without intending to, he'd moved his entire body forward, had opened his mouth, had filled her mouth with his tongue, had cupped one hand gently over her breast. He had kissed her for all he was worth. And in that moment he had both possessed her and given himself to her completely.

"It was okay." He said in response to Mike's question.

"Just okay?" Mike laughed. "If it was just okay, then why sixteen years later when you're in a room together, you heat it up like a convection oven."

"Okay, it was beyond okay."

"What happened on prom night?"

"Sixteen years later, I'm still trying to figure it out." He replied. "I went to the prom with Mickie James who was actually more of a friend to me. Milly went with Adam Copeland who she'd only been dating for a month. I couldn't keep my eyes off her that night. She was just so beautiful. I kept gravitating to her. And without realizing it, I was following her. And I saw her go outside."

"And?"

"I never did find out why she went to Adam's car in the first place. But looking back, I think she wanted me to follow her. She had the keys with her and as soon as she unlocked the car door, she turned around and looked right at me." He sighed.

"It was like the afternoon I kissed her. Like neither one of us had control over what was happening. I remember saying her name and walking over and kissing her again. The next thing I knew she and I were in the backseat of Adam's car and the top of her dress was down around her waist and her breast was in my mouth and my pants were unfastened. And all I wanted, really, really, really badly was to be inside her. I got her panties off, I got my pants down, I pushed the skirt of her dress up over her hips and then.."

He couldn't quite bring himself to say what happened or rather didn't happen next. "As much as I wanted to be inside of her and oh god, did I want to be inside her. I couldn't get it up, Mike. I was completely turned on as an eighteen year old kid can be and I don't' think I have to tell you how that is."

"Nope" He assumed him "You don't' have to tell me."

John sighed heavily. "In spite of how much I wanted to, I was physically unable to make love to her."

"You were impotent." Mike said.

"Yeah I was just what you said. It had never happened to me before and it hasn't happened since." John said. "I'd had plenty of hard ons before that night usually ironically when I was thinking about Milly. Hell, I had a hard on that day I kissed her in the hall. But that night, when I finally had the chance to make love to her, something I'd been wanting to do for years. I couldn't do it and to this day I don't know why."

Mike continued to study him with much thought. "Do you think it would happen again? With Milly"

John wished he could vehemently reply that hell no it would never happen again. But he didn't know. He remembered how she had looked when he'd pushed himself away from her that night, how confused and frightened she'd been. When he'd finally admitted to himself what was going on, he'd panicked. He'd been too confused and embarrassed and humiliated to explain to her what was happening. So, he'd reacted without thinking. He pulled himself away from her and exited the car. He turned his back on her and said nothing as he pulled his pants and tucked in his shirt.

He'd had no choice but look at her then and what he'd seen had twisted something hot and sharp inside him. Milly was crying and clutching the top of her dress to her chest. And she was begging him to please not go. She was asking over and over what was the matter, what had she done wrong, whatever it was she was sorry and she'd try harder and please John don't' go, don't' leave me here alone.

And John, simple had not known what to do. So he'd turned without a word and walked away from her.

A week later she'd been gone and any chance he might have had to try and explain or apologize was gone with her. Neither of them had seen the other again until last night. And last night, he'd realized he still hated himself as much today as he had sixteen years ago.

"So then why did JR give you a fat lip?" Mike asked. "Because you didn't have sex with his daughter?"

John looked down at his beer. "Because he thought I tried to assault her."

"What?" Mike asked.

"JR came to my house just before midnight while my parents were still out celebrating their anniversary. Between his screaming at the top of his lungs and the subsequent punch in the mouth, I was able to conclude that whatever Milly had told her father, it wasn't the whole story. But I didn't feel like I was in any position to defend myself. But I found out that Milly had it home all right no thanks to me. Chris Irvine, boy next door and all around great guy, found her crying in Adam's car, saw me leaving the scene and naturally assumed the worst. So he took Milly home and he also told JR that I assaulted her. Then he went back to prom and told the entire senior class that I had assaulted her."

"Great guy." Mike said dryly.

"Yes, well didn't I just say he was?"

As a result of Chris's jumping to conclusions, John had become the official black eye of Woodhaven High School class of 95. And even though he'd heard from a couple of friends that Milly had done her best to stop the gossip, John had been banned from the graduation ceremonies and ostracized by pretty much everyone in the class. And hell he hadn't even cared about that. Because after what he'd done to Milly, he'd figured he deserved every punishment in the book.

In leaving her alone that night, he had behaved abominably. And to this day, he had no idea what he might say or do that would come close to making up for the shabby way he'd treated her. But he'd been eighteen years old and mortified by what had happened. And he'd been so ashamed of himself. Not just for being unable to perform sexually but for being unable to explain why it had happened to her or to himself.

"We should go. I have to get up early tomorrow." Mike said finally. "I'm going to need my sleep if I have to face Mae Ross again."

John nodded and got up too. Mike wasn't the only one who was going to have to get up early in the morning to cope with one of the Ross women. He tossed back what was left of his beer.

"Yeah I know the feeling." He told his friend. "I have a pretty complicated job I need to do tomorrow myself."

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	10. Chapter 10

Milly couldn't believe her success in eluding John for the rest of the weekend. Although she went out of her way to avoid seeing him at The Keep, she was surprised by how well she managed it. He must not be very good at whatever her father had hired him to do, she decided smugly. Because on Sunday morning, she showered and dressed in a loose fitting sleeveless white sheath and sandals, packed her luggage into her car said goodbye to her father and Mae and drove off into the sunrise all by herself. And John, the big chump, was nowhere in sight for any of it.

Her triumph was short-lived concluding as it did at the end of her father's driveway. As she'd told John the day before, Milly hadn't left the estate since she'd arrived there three months ago. And as she'd John, she'd assured herself that was only because there hadn't been any reason for her to leave. She hadn't had a job for years and what few friends she'd managed to cultivate before getting involved with Dave she had neglected after her marriage. And that would be because Dave had discouraged her from having a life that didn't totally revolve around him.

Milly had herself now that her hesitation was silly, that beyond the gate to her father's estate laid a wealth of experiences she had missed for far too long. Beyond the gate laid adventure, excitement maybe even romance. Well okay probably not romance because she had no intention of getting involved with anyone until she "found herself'.

But beyond that gate laid life, she thought. And life was something she hadn't had to call her own for a very long time. So what was stopping her? Why was she so reluctant to move forward? Why did she want to turn her car around, drive back up to the house and hide under her bed for a long, long time?

When she entered the long term parking and got her things out. Just as she shut the trunk of the car, the hairs on the back of her neck pricked up. Telling herself that there was nothing amiss, Milly slipped her tote bag neatly over the metal pull handle of her garment bag and then slung her smaller cosmetic bag on the top. She took her first step toward freedom, pulling her luggage along for the trip. And she did her best to shake off another sensation that she was being watched.

She completed two more steps before she felt the presence of another person coming up behind her, much too quickly and much too close. By the time she started to spin around in an effort to identify the oncoming person's intent was to drag her, probably kicking and screaming toward a waiting van whose engine suddenly bellowed to life. What Milly's wasn't able to figure out was the identity of the person. But it was most definitely a him. Of that she was certain, thanks to the size of the arms wrapped around her throat and waist and the strength with which he used those arms to pull her backwards.

Although she tried to free herself from the vicious embrace, she was helpless to even ease the man's hold on her. Instead she could only struggle fruitlessly as he dragged her backward. She instinctively drove her heel down onto the man's foot as hard as she could and was surprised when the maneuver actually worked. In fact, the man turned loose of her so quickly that it was almost as if he'd been physically ripped from her by a third party. Spinning around, Milly realized that was exactly what had happened. Because John Cena was tangled up with her would-be abductor, doing his best and it was definitely some very good best to overpower the thug.

Before she could even think what she should do, John dispatched her assailant, who Milly realized now that she got a good look, was a complete stranger. He stumbled back to the van and climbed in and they sped off.

The next thing Milly knew, John was grabbing her hand and tugging her along behind him. He scooped up her luggage as they passed it pulling it along as they fled toward the big ruby red SUV whose engine was also rumbling like an angry beast and whose driver's door had been flung open.

"Get in." John instructed her unnecessarily as he pushed her toward the open door. He went around to the back of the vehicle and put her luggage in the back. He got in the driver's door and sped away.

"Holy cow." Milly said as he took a corner much too quickly, hurling her against the passenger side door. Hastily she clipped her seat belt into place and shoved down the lock with her fist. "What the hell was that about?"

John was still breathing much too hard to reply with any amount of coherence but what eventually came out sounded like, "Can't… beleevt. Sumbitch… tried…catnip…you." Strangely he sounded even more outraged about it than she felt herself.

"We should call the police." She said.

"Yeah, we sure as hell should call somebody." He agreed. "Just let me take care of it okay?"

Milly opened her mouth to object but something in his expression forbade her to say anything. She and John both remained quiet for some time after that until they were a few miles away from the airport. Even then Milly only broke the silence because she couldn't stand the fact that John hadn't uttered the obvious by now.

"So?" She said softly. "Aren't you going to say I told you so. I figured those would be the first words out of your mouth when you saw what was happening."

He shook his head but kept his gaze fixed on the road. "Not the first words out of my mouth were well they weren't exactly fit to repeat. But something along the lines of Hey, that matriach-fricking poopoo head is stealing Milly. If I get my gosh darn hands on him, I'll punt his gosh darned tushie right up his gosh darned proboscis. I have a job to do after all."

Milly nodded resigned now to her fate. Suddenly having her body guarded by John didn't seem like a terrible thing even if her father was the one who was responsible for it. Even if John was only doing it because he was getting paid to. In fact her body didn't seem to mind the realization either because every single cell she possessed was currently humming with anticipation at the prospect.

"Gee, I guess this make you my bodyguard after all. Just like my father wanted."

A few moments passed before John replied obviously with more than a little reluctance. "Um, actually bodyguard wasn't exactly the position your father ultimately hired me to fill."

"Then if you're not going to be my bodyguard, what exactly are you going to be?"

"I'm your kidnapper, Milly. I'm your kidnapper."

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	11. Chapter 11

"You're my what?"

"I'm your kidnapper." He turned to look at her and saw her expression was one of confusion.

"My kidnapper." She repeated in a flat voice that offered absolutely no indication as to what she might be thinking.

"Yup." He told her. "Your kidnapper."

"Then, um, who was that guy back there at the airport?"

"No idea." He replied honestly. Through actually he did have his suspicions. "I thought maybe you might have known him."

"Nope." She said. "No idea. I can't think of anyone who would want to have me kidnapped. Oh wait a minute yes, I can." She immediately corrected herself. "My father. My own flesh and blood. But the he'd hire some pathetic, brown nosing little lackey to kidnap me wouldn't he?"

"Hey, I resent that. I'm not little." John retorted.

"I cannot believe my father hired you to kidnap me. But I guess I should be grateful. You foiled that other attempt. So now I don't have to worry about being kidnapped for real."

"Um, actually yes you do have to worry about that."

"Why?"  
>"Because your father hired me to kidnap you. I'm sorry I thought you got that part."<p>

"Are you telling me this is a kidnapping?" She said slowly.

"I'm afraid so." He nodded.

"I thought it was a rescue."

"No, what I did back there was a rescue. Really. This is now most definitely a kidnapping."

"But"

"I don't know what to tell you Milly. What can I say? You're my prisoner."

"I'm your what?"

Despite the even timbre of her voice, John could tell that she was starting to get pretty mad. Boy and after all he'd done for her too. He'd saved her from a kidnapping. A real kidnapping and now she was ticked off just because he was perpetrating a little faux kidnapping instead.

Women. Who could understand them? "Look, your father has been worried about you."

"Well I guess so. What with the impending kidnapping he arranged for me and all."

"He thinks you've forgotten how to enjoy life. He thinks there's no joy in you. No passion, no life and you know what Milly? He's right."

Well, that, John noted, finally shut her up. When he braved a glance in her direction this time, he saw her gazing back at him with her mouth hanging open, her eyes wide. Turning his attention back to the highway, he reached over and gently pushed her chin back up, until her mouth was closed.

"I don't know all the stuff that happened to you when you were married." He continued, his voice softening, his attention still fixed on the highway ahead of them. "But your father told me it was unhappy. That you were unhappy and now that it's over, he wants you happy again. That's what this kidnapping is all about."

"He thinks it will make me happy to be kidnapped?" She asked dubiously. "By you?"

"Beats a sharp stick in the eye."

Milly said nothing in response to that and he decided it might be prudent not to ask her to. "Look, he just wants me to show you a good time." Even as he put voice to them, John knew the words weren't quite appropriate. But he had no idea how else to describe what JR had asked him to do. "He wants me to make sure you have fun between now and the weekend on the way back to Cincinnati."

He waited a moment to see if that announcement would register with Milly the way it was suppose to. Finally he heard a groan, long, lusty and low. And he knew that she'd figured it out.

"Are you telling me that we're going to drive the way back to Cincinnati?" She asked.

"Yup."

"Do you know how far it is from Santa Barbara to Cincinnati?"

"Yup."

"Do you realize how long it will take us to get there?"

"Yup."

"And you're going to do it anyways?"

"Yup."

"Oh no."

"Yup. He threw her the most dazzling smile in his arsenal. "It's not a pretty job, Milly. But somebody's gotta do it."

"And since Daddy hired you."

"Yup. That somebody is me."

"Oh god."

"Don't worry. I have a plan and I have a map. In fact, I have a whole bunch of maps. It'll be fun Milly. An adventure and how long has it been since you've had an adventure?"

"Oh, god."

He looked over at her and she had her head in hands. He reached for the radio dial. He figured the music would help for a little bit. He stopped when he heard the announce say they were having an all eighties weekend.

"All right." John replied excitedly. "Did you hear that Milly? All eighties. We loved that music."

"Oh god."

"Next up." The announcer said. "Dexy's Midnight Runners with 'Come on Eileen."

John smiled. "Oh I love this song. This will cheer you up. This is a great song."

"Yeah you would think that." Milly grumbled. "It's a song about a guy who's trying to get a girl to have sex with him."

"And the reason that would prelude this from being a good song would be?" He asked.

But all she said in response was, "Only you John. Only you."

He decided not to ask her to elaborate on that, because they were words he'd always wanted to hear Milly Ross utter in his presence. Okay, so maybe he'd imagined the situation just a tad differently. Like maybe for instance, he'd pictured the two of them enjoying some kind of postcoital euphoria, lying with their arms and legs and maybe a few other body parts entangled and not with him having just kidnapped her and her being totally pissed off at him.

Details, details, sheesh.

"This song." He said. "Contains some of the best lyrics ever written."

He spun the other dial, the volume dial, until music filled the cab of the SUV. He had his work cut out for him, he realized. Jim Ross had definitely been right about one thing. Milly surely did need kidnapping.

And John Cena was just the guy to do it.

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	12. Chapter 12

Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, alerted and favorited this story. You guys are awesome.

This chapter is a filler chapter really. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the WWE or the wrestlers in this story. I own only my ocs. This story is fiction and is to be taken that way.

* * *

><p>The rain was coming down full force by the time John spied a pay phone in the parking lot of a restaurant. He didn't want to use his cell phone for this call and have Milly overhear it. Immediately he spun the steering wheel to the right and pulled alongside it.<p>

"I have to make a phone call." He said unnecessarily.

She glanced over at him and he was relieved to see that her face wasn't quite as pale as it had been thirty minutes ago. It was a good sign.

"The police?" She asked.

"Yeah." He lied. And he hoped like hell she would forgive him when all was said and done.

She looked like she was going to ask him something else, but she must have changed her mind because she only nodded silently. John freed his seat belt and leapt down from the SUV ducking under the rain as well as he could as he covered the scant distance to the phone booth. Once inside, he took the business card Jim Ross had given him that morning. On the back was a list of phone numbers, all belonging to JR. His home phone, his work phone, his cell phone, his private line that nobody but nobody got unless they were of vital significance. It was the last number that John dialed first. JR must have been waiting by the phone because he answered on the second ring.

"Ross." He said gruffly.

"It's John. Do you have something you want to tell me?" He asked. "Something I'm sure you meant to tell me before I left? Something you surely forgot to tell me this morning?"

The other man hesitated a moment before replying, "Like what."

"Oh gee, I don't know." John said sarcastically. "Like maybe that you hired someone else to kidnap your daughter, in addition of myself? And that maybe it wasn't the same kind of kidnapping you wanted me to perform."

There was a moment of silence from the other end of the line, then he heard JR chuckle." Wasn't that a brilliant idea?

John bristled his fingers curling more tightly over the receiver. "Oh, it was something all right."

"I figured if Milly thought there was a real threat to her, she'd be more inclined to go with you and more importantly, to stay close to you."

John bit back a few very colorful expletives. "And you didn't think about something like that scaring the bejeezus out of her?" And me? He wanted to add.

"She was never in any danger." JR said. "Those two men were people who work for me. Two of my vice presidents. They've known me for years."

"That must have been some Christmas bonus you promised them." John muttered.

"Actually it was some stock options." JR told him. "Excellent ones, I might add. Plus they just feel a personal obligation to me."

John rolled his eyes heavenward and prayed for patience.

"They had no intention of hurting her." JR added.

"Yeah, well Milly didn't know that." John pointed out. "And I sure as hell didn't know either."

"If you'd known. You wouldn't have reacted realistically to the threat and then Milly would have known something was amiss. I had to do it this way."

Vaguely, John found himself contemplating that deep end business again where Jim Ross was concerned and he modified it to a gaping, black abyss. Because surely no man in his right mind. Still, no one had ever really considered the fact that he might honestly lose it either.

John sighed heavily. "Are there going to be any more surprises like this one that I should know about? Any more 'harmless little abductions' during the rest of the trip?"

"Mmmm, could be." JR said. "I don't want Milly to get complacent."

"Think you could let me in on the precise agenda?" John asked. Through, unfortunately, he already pretty much knew the answer to that question.

"As I said, John, if you knew about my plans in advance, you wouldn't react in a realistic fashion. I need to have the element of surprise on my side."

Actually John thought, what Jim Ross needed was some heavy duty psychoanalysis followed by some massive and prolonged sedation.

"Let me do this my way, Mr. Ross." John said in the best no nonsense voice he could manage. "Promise me there won't' be any more of these phony attempts to abduct her. Promise me you won't interfere in any way for the rest of the trip."

"But"

"It's not necessary, Mr. Ross. " John said. "I can handle this myself."

But instead of replying to the statement, JR only said. "Please, John. How many times do I have to ask you to call me JR."

John inhaled a deep breath and released it slowly. "It's not necessary, JR. So promise me there won't be any more of these staged dangers for the trip."

The other man was silent for a moment, then he said. "All right. I promise to leave both of you alone."

"Thank you."

"But you in turn have to promise me something, John."

"Anything." He said.

There was a short pause from the other end of the line, followed by a very softly offered, "Make Milly happy again."

John closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Oh, there was nothing he'd like more than to make Milly Ross happy. Unfortunately, he was beginning to suspect that he was the one who had initially set her off on the course to her current unhappiness sixteen years ago, when he had rejected her so flagrantly, without an explanation.

"I'll do my best." He told JR.

Somehow though, he didn't think that would be nearly enough.

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	13. Chapter 13

As much as Mike had enjoyed his brief sojourn in the lovely fantasy land known as Santa Barbara, he was relieved when the plane touched down at the Cincinnati airport even if he was still saddled with Miss Mae Ross. In fact, he was so happy to be back on his own home turf that there was only one thing that could have improved his mood: If at some point during the flight, the exit door near Miss Mae Ross had accidentally blown open and Miss Mae Ross had accidentally been sucked out of the cabin and hurled down onto one of the many states over which they'd flown. Alas, however, that hadn't happened. No, Mike had arrived back on his home turf with Miss Mae Ross and he would be here with Miss Mae Ross until the princess returned to her magic kingdom on the West Coast in one week.

Mike was already counting down the minutes. Tragically there were still many, many thousands of minutes between now and then and for those, he had no choice but to stay close to Miss Mae Ross. He spared a glance at her as they waited for their luggage. She was wearing a short sleeved dress, the delicate fabric of which was pale yellow and spattered with little pink rosebuds. It was a deceptively innocent looking garment that hugged her curves in a way that was likewise deceptively revealing.

Or maybe not so deceptively revealing, Mike amended with a not so quick double take. Because Miss Mae Ross was standing in the light in such a way that made it possible for him to discern the hazy outline of her legs and butt beneath the thin fabric and the scant swell of one breast. And in the fit of hormonally charged astonishment, he realized she wasn't wearing any underwear beneath that dress. And then he remembered that he'd been sitting right next to her for more than four houses on the plan and she hadn't been wearing any and he hadn't noticed. Man, he was slipping.

He decided then that under other circumstances being stuck with Miss Mae Ross for a full week might not be such a bad thing. Like if it they didn't hate each other.

"After we pick up the rental car, there is someplace I need to go right away." She said to him.

"The hotel?" He asked hopefully.

"Woodhaven." She said.

The boyfriend, Mike guessed. Now that she was back in town, she didn't want to any time finding the guy. "Can't that wait?" He asked anyway telling himself it was only because it was getting late and he was getting tired and he wanted to be at the hotel all settled in. It wasn't because of anything else.

"No." She said succinctly. "It can't."

"Fine." He replied.

She started to walk away from baggage claim. "Oh Miss Ross."

"What?" She said to him

"My luggage." He said pointedly.

She rolled her eyes and huffed a little bit. Unable to help himself, he snapped. "Don't worry. Your boyfriend isn't going anywhere."

"As I've told you on a number of occasions, Mr. Mizanin, the person I'm hoping to encounter at the reunion is not my boyfriend."

"Not yet." Mike conceded. "And if you act too desperate, he ain't gonna be either. Trust me guys don't respect desperate girls. They will take great advantage of them whenever they can."

"Oh my. How shocking, I never would have guessed that about your gender." She replied blandly. "Your gender is after all so seldom on the make. Look do me a favor. Just forget I ever mentioned that I came back here to see someone all right?"

He refrained from answering her as he bent down to get his bags and noticed her assassin briefcase."What is it that you do for a living room, anyway?"

When he stood, he saw that she was smiling now, a smile that was surprisingly soft and sentimental. It nearly too his breath away.

"I'm a, uh, a teacher." She replied.

"Really?"

Her smile grew broader. "You sound surprised, Mr. Mizanin."

"No." He lied. "Just, I don't know. I never realized teachers." _Walked around without underwear on, _he finished to himself. Probably, that wasn't a good thing to say out loud. Not if he wanted to keep the conversation idle. Not if he wanted to keep her elbows out of his gut.

"You never realized teachers what?" She prodded. Her smile now led him to believe that she knew exactly what he was thinking about.

"I never realized teachers flew first class." He finally finished lamely.

"Only on special occasions." She told him with another knowing grin.

Mike tried really hard to keep this blank. "What, um, what do you teach?"

"Mm, political science." She told him.

Oh well, Mike thought. That totally explained the lack of underwear thing. But there'd been something in her voice when she'd spoken that had made him think she taught a different kind of political science than he'd studied when he was in college. "So then you teach at a university level?" He asked.

"More like post-grad."

"Political science I see. That sounds interesting."

"It can be. Under the right circumstances." She smiled. "Can we go get the rental car?"

"Right. The rental car."

"And then Woodhaven." She decreed.

"Right, Woodhaven and then the hotel." She nodded in agreement as they headed to get the rental.

Woodhaven hadn't changed at all in the last sixteen years. Mae made the observation without surprise as she gazed through the passenger window of the big, luxury sedan that she had rented and asked Mr. Mizanin to drive so that she could enjoy the sights of home even if it was from under cover of darkness. And although Mr. Mizanin had seemed surprised by her request that he take the wheel, he had accepted. This in spite the fact that her father had hired him to be not her chauffeur but her bodyguard.

Dammit, now she was thinking about him that way too. And the last thing she needed to be emphasizing where Mr. Mike Mizanin was concerned was either of their bodies. She had an infinitely more important body she needed to be thinking about now that she was back in Cincinnati. Blond Chris Irvine's body. And hey that wasn't such a bad body to be focusing on. Bodies didn't come much more beautifully formed than Chris's.

Her gaze wandered toward the driver's side of the car or more specifically the driver. Okay so Mr. Mizanin had a pretty decent body too. All right, so he had a spectacular body she amended reluctantly. One she'd scarcely been able to keep her eyes off of since she'd opened her bedroom door at The Keep and find him standing on the other side. His broad shoulders strained against a black blazer and a crisp white T-shirt stretched taut over the impressive chest beneath showcasing every delicious cord of muscle he possessed.

Not that she could see those luscious muscles in the dark car but she remembered them. Oh boy could she remember them. She could also remember how his faded jeans had hugged his trim hips and thighs and lovingly cupped his….

Well Mae hadn't allowed herself to inspect him any further than that. She'd been afraid of what she might do as a result. Besides his eyes had been what attracted her notice more than any of his other qualities. Perfect blue she thought.

Still as attractive as Mr. Mizanin was, he wasn't Chris Irvine. Therefore he wasn't someone she needed or wanted for that matter to have on her mind.

"Turn left at the next stop sign." She directed him.

"This is the neighborhood where you and your sister grew up?" He asked as he made the requested turn.

Mae nodded. "In fact, this was our street."

"Nice." He remarked with vast understatement.

She didn't disagree with him. Woodhaven ran the gamut of the economic spectrum from the crowded, broken down urban dwellings on the south end to the plain, brick ranch houses skirting the western edge to spacious, showy mansions scarcely two miles away in the north. It was past those last that Mae and her companion currently drove. Her family on both sides had been wealthy for several generations and although it had never once occurred to Mae to apologize for her financial circumstances she suddenly felt the need to make excuses.

"My father worked very hard." She said impulsively. "For as long as I can remember. It's not like this was all just handed to him.

Mike hesitated before asking. "Wasn't it?"

"Well, yeah okay it was handed to him but he worked hard to keep it. He still does."

"And just what is your father's business?"

"He's a real estate developer."

Mike nodded. "Well that explains the potential for shady business deals.

"What shady business deals?"

"John and your father mentioned something that happened here sixteen years ago when you and your family."

"Left town under cover of darkness." Mae finished for him. She'd realized some time ago how notorious the circumstances of their departure must have been in Woodhaven. She suspected their disappearance had spawned much debate and speculation.

"That's how John described it yes." Mike confirmed.

She sighed heavily. "Daddy never did explain that to my or Milly's liking. But I'm certain he overreacted to something."

"How can you be certain about that?"

"Because Daddy has always been paranoid, that's how." Mae said. "And getting back to what we were talking about earlier, he's always worked very hard to maintain our lifestyle."

"And my parents were always big time into philanthropy, too." She added for good measure. "My father contributed heavily to the Cincinnati art scene and there's a scholarship named after my mother. And when Milly and I were kids, every year at Christmas and Thanksgiving, we volunteered at several different.."

"Miss Ross."

"What?"

You don't have to defend yourself to me."

"Don't I?"

"No, you don't."

"That's funny because I get the distinct impression that you do resent me for some reason."

He hesitated a moment before replying. "Not for your social standing, I don't."

"Then you do admit that you resent me."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to."

He said nothing in response to that and Mae decided it might be best not to press the issues any further. No sense having verified exactly what she suspected. That Mr. Mike Mizanin hated her guts. Of course after the way she'd been treating him this weekend she could hardly blame him. But she couldn't help it. He put her on edge whenever he came within fifty feet of her. And she'd always reacted badly to people who put her on edge.

There was just something about him that rubbed her the wrong way. Some mysterious quality in him spoke to something equally baffling in her and those two strange some things had been bickering for the last forty eight hours. Mae really wished that whatever those some things were they would just shut up.

"There." She said pointing toward the house where she and Milly had spent their childhood. She smiled as it came into view. "Pull over to the curb for a minute."

"Yes, ma'am Miss Ross." He replied crisply.

"Please." She added belatedly apologetically.

That seemed to placate him some because his voice was a bit less chilly when he asked. "This was your house?"

"Yeah." She replied her smile returning when she switched her attention back to it.

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	14. Chapter 14

The big Tudor looked smaller than Mae recalled but the trees scattered about the large lot were all bigger and more expansive. The shutters of the house were beige now where before they had been dark brown and the front door was painted green instead of the dark red it had been when the Rosses had claimed the residence. Other than that little about the house had changed. It really was a wonderful house and she only now realized how much she missed it.

"I wonder who lives there now." She asked. "I hope it's someone with kids. It was a great house to a kid in."

She was so caught up in her memories, Mae had almost forgotten Mr. Mizanin was with her. She turned to face him. His face was half-shadowed, half-lit by the yellowish glow from a streetlamp on the corner and she found his appearance then to be strangely appropriate. Light or dark which was he? She wondered maybe this week she'd find out.

Then she reminded herself that it didn't matter what Mr. Mizanin was because he wasn't the man she had come here for. The man she had come here for was far more important to her well-being and peace of mind and much less difficult to figure out.

"Could you drive down a little bit further?" She asked "Just to the next house? Pull around the corner and park across the street. Please."

He seemed surprised by her request but did as she asked. As the sedan crept forward, Mae turned her attention to the big, Federal style house next door to the one where she had grown up. The Irvine house. Chris's house. He had moved to Mount Airy after he'd married but had moved back home after his father's death. All three of his daughters lived with him. His oldest, Stephanie was a junior in high school. The middle, Anna, was in seventh grade and the youngest, Jessica, was in fourth grade.

As the car parked, she saw inside the window of the house. Chris was there with his daughters and it looked like they were wanting money. She watched as he gave the girls the money and they left the room.

For a moment, Mae indulged in a little fantasy, wondering how it might have been if things had turned out differently. If she had been the one to marry Chris, as she'd always hoped she would. If she had been the one to give him three beautiful daughters. If she had been the one living in that house with him.

She sighed and made herself forget the past and focus on what actually was. To think about the weekend that lay ahead and her plans for how things would unfold between her and Chris then. And remembering that, Mae felt better. About herself, about Chris, about what might or might not have been.

"Looks like Mr. Right got married." Mike said from the seat beside her.

"Yes." Mae told him. "He did. Two years after graduating from high school. His girlfriend was pregnant at the time."

"Ouch." Mike said. "That had to put a crimp in his plans for the future."

"Not really. They'd planned to get married anyway. Childhood sweethearts and all that. He and his wife dated all through high school.

"So then isn't Mrs. Right going to put a crimp in your plans for next weekend?"

"Mrs. Right is dead. She died almost a year ago. A boating accident."

"Oh, gee I guess I should say I'm sorry but this does sort of put you in a good spot?"

"Well it does give me an additional reason to look Chris up." She looked again at the house. "We can go now."

"To the hotel?" He asked hopefully.

"Yes." She replied as they drove away.

Pulling away Mike had to battle the same creepy sensation that had washed over him the first time he'd been alone with Mae. As he'd watched her watching Chris, something had come over her expression that had given him a major wiggins. A look of intent, of conviction. Something almost predatory. Like she was utterly determined to land this guy and make him her own personal love slave. Whether he liked it or not.

Creepy and depressing in a way. There was just something kind of sad about a woman who'd been saving herself for sixteen years for some guy she hadn't even dated. Waiting around for a chance to fit herself into his life and now his wife was dead.

Not that Mike thought Mae had ever sat around hoping this guy's wife would buy the farm. She was way too polite for something like that. But the whole scenario just didn't set well with him. Something about it was just really creepy.

He pushed the uncomfortable sensation away and focused on the drive. The Woodhaven High School reunion would be taking place at the Stanhope Hotel. The same site that their senior prom had been held. She had booked a suite at the Stanhope for herself and her sister to share, adjoining rooms on the same floor for him and John.

"I want to make sure Milly has a good time here this week." She said out of the blue. "I think she needs it and I think she'd earned it."

Oops, Mike thought. Considering what John had told him this morning that was going to be something of a problem.

"That going to be a problem."

"What is that going to be a problem?"

Mike didn't answer her as he pulled into the hotel and gave the keys to the valet. The bellman helped get their luggage out.

"Can you take those inside and we will join you in a minute?" Mae said to him. She turned to Mike. "What did you mean it might be a problem to make sure Milly had a good time?"

Mike glanced at his watch and saw it was nearly nine thirty pm eastern time and nearly six thirty back on the west coast. By now John and Milly would be hundreds of miles from Santa Barbara. He couldn't say for certain but surely by now they were under way on the trip that JR had hired John to make with his daughter.

"Well, Milly is going to be arriving in Cincinnati a different route than originally planned."

"By what route exactly." She said. "Will Milly be arriving in Cincinnati?"

"Oh probably I-71 North." Mike replied. "That would make the most sense."

"I-71 North." Mae repeated. "I'm guessing that means she probably won't be arriving in an airplane."

"No probably not." He concurred. "I think the highway department frowns on that kind of thing. Not to mention it could really wreak havoc with rush hour on a Friday."

"She's driving to Cincinnati?" Mae interrupted. Mike nodded. "From Santa Barbara?"

He nodded again. "Surely, she's not doing that alone."

"No, not alone." He affirmed. "John's with her."

Mae gaped at him for a moment, and then groaned. "Oh, no. Oh, why was I so afraid you were going to say that?"

"Hey, Milly is perfectly safe with John." Mike retorted, offended on behalf of his friend. "He'll make sure she gets back to Cincinnati okay?"

"No you don't understand. When John and Milly get together."

"What?"

"Stuff just. I don't know how to describe it." She said helplessly. "There's a great disturbance in the Force, Obi-Wan Kenobi. That's all there is to it. There's no way they'll make the trip without something combusting."

Mike nodded. Hadn't he told John yesterday that he'd sensed something of that nature himself when he'd seen the two of them together? Not so much as a great disturbance in the Force but something had definitely shifted and changed in their collective reality.

"They'll be fine." Mike said.

Though, for some reason, he didn't feel quite as certain about that as he had a moment ago. Because suddenly he had the oddest sensation that either John or Milly would do something rash. And knowing John as well as he did, Mike would bet good money on the Y chromosome.

Mae clearly did not believe this assertion any more than he did because as she turned to make her way toward the hotel entrance to catch up with their luggage, she muttered. "I hope they don't kill each other by the week's end."

Mike remembered then that he hadn't finished telling her about the change in plans where her room accommodations or more correctly her roommate was concerned. And he found himself hoping there wasn't going to be a death at this end either.

"Oh, Miss Ross." He said hastening his step to catch up with her. "There's something I forgot to tell you."

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	15. Chapter 15

"Good evening, Flagstaff! We're coming up on eleven o'clock in the p.m. and we're winding up our awesome eighties weekend on this bee-yoo-tiful Sunday night! Next up, The Pretenders! The 'Middle of the Road' is trying to get Chrissie Hynde! But hey, ain't that the way it is for all of us?"

Milly awoke with a start, instinctively recoiling at the disembodied voice that had jerked her into reluctant consciousness. She tried to ignore it but the rabid echo reverberated in her head, bounced off every last brain cell she possessed, and then embedded itself at the front of her cranium with a blinding slash of awareness.

Resigned to her fate, she pried open first one eye and then other and immediately discovered that she had no idea where she was. For a moment, she felt dazed and disoriented wondered why she wasn't in her bed at The Keep or in the bed she had occupied during her brief life alone in her L.A. apartment or even in her bed at the house she had shared with Dave for so many years.

Why, instead, was there a splendid night sky above her spattered with too many stars to ever count? Stars that were so bright and so beautiful it looked as if someone had scattered a fistful of diamonds into the lap of a black velvet gown. Why was there a cool, gentle breeze caressing her face? And why was her body being rocked gently to and fro a motion that encouraged her to close her eyes again and go back to sleep?

Milly then remembered where she was. With John, her kidnapper, who had been paid by her father to show her a good time. And although the success of that 'good time' business was up for grabs at the moment, he seemed to be succeeding pretty well on the kidnapping front. She wished she knew where they were going.

She had always wanted to travel but Dave had discouraged all the traveling. He'd discouraged anything that might have broadened her horizons. He'd decreed that he and he alone would claim responsibility for her happiness. And God help her that was what Milly had allowed him to do. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to forgive herself for that. But that life was gone, she reminded herself and this life was here now. She just wished she could identify exactly what this life was.

She turned her gazed upward again and sighed silently. "Where are we?"

"Well good evening Sleeping Beauty." He said quietly.

She glanced at the dashboard clock and expelled a soft sound of disbelief. "Is it really going on ten o'clock?"

"Going on eleven local time." He had been sitting in that seat for nearly twelve hours.

"Aren't you getting tired?" She asked.

He launched himself into as much of a full-body stretch as he could seeing as how he was operating heavy machinery. Milly tried not to notice how his entire body seemed to expand in response to the action.

"I guess I am starting to feel the brunt of the day." He said when he relaxed again.

"How come you didn't stop before now?"

"I hadn't intended to drive this far today but there's nowhere much to stop once you get out of Barstow. I thought we could spend the night in Needles but you fell asleep just before we got there so I kept driving." He smiled still gazing out at the black ribbon of highway. "Then I thought we could stop in Kingman but you were still asleep and you looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you."

"You could have wakened me. I didn't need the sleep that bad."

"Could of fooled me."

She was about to repeat her question regarding their whereabouts when she saw a sign that said Flagstaff was less than thirty miles.

"We should stop here. It shouldn't be too hard to find a hotel in the city."

"Grab that Triple A guide in the side pocket of the passenger door and see if you can find something."

Milly nodded as she reached for the guide. "I'll use my cell phone to make a reservation." She did and within minutes they adjoining rooms booked at the Canyon Vista Motor Lodge. "I didn't realize we were getting close to the Grand Canyon. Have you ever seen it?"

He shook his head. "Me neither. Too bad we'll have to miss it."

"Says who?"

"Well we're going to have to get up early tomorrow to drive aren't we? I mean we do have a long way to go to get to Ohio."

John grinned. "We have all week to get to Ohio. We could sleep in tomorrow morning, and then maybe find a Denny's and have a Grand Slam Breakfast. Hey, how long has it been since you've had one of those huh, Milly? Then we could head to the Grand Canyon for the day."

For some reason, Milly couldn't quite muster the enthusiasm he seemed to be feeling himself. "Um, why?"

"Because it would be fun."

"But."  
>"A good time Milly. That's what I'm supposed to show you this week, remember?"<p>

Yeah because he was being paid to she couldn't help recalling. "John, you don't have to take my father at his word about that."

"Sure I do."

"Just because he's paying you to."

"Milly, I'm not just doing this because he's paying me to."

"Then why?"

Instead of answering her, he threw her another one of those disarming little grins that had always so well disarmed her.

"We'll have fun." He said to her. "Just wait and see."

She nibbled her lip thoughtfully for a moment, telling herself she should discourage this. She really did want to get back to Cincinnati and spend time with Mae visiting all the places they knew as teens.

"John."

But nothing more than his name left her mouth because she really had no idea what to say. For some reason getting back to Cincinnati didn't seem quite as important as it had a few days or even a few hours ago. Because suddenly being there with John somehow filled that need. For now, anyway. She was sure it wouldn't last. But for now, it was enough.

"Just promise me." She said finally. "That you won't make me ride to the bottom on one of those donkeys."

He smiled. "Don't worry Milly. I have our itinerary all planned."

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	16. Chapter 16

The Canyon Vista Motor Lodge offered neither a vista of canyon nor much of a lodge, John couldn't help but note as he tossed his duffel bag onto the bed in his room. The only good thing about his room was that it adjoined Milly's, which as far as John was concerned, was a very good thing indeed. Especially since the two doors that did the actual adjoining currently stood wide open and Milly hadn't objected at all when he's insisted they stay that way.

He still wasn't sure why she was going along with this excursion as willingly as she had been. He'd expected her to fight him every mile of the road. But she didn't in fact she had been very compliant. Yet for all her cooperation, John was irritated as hell. Because compliant was the last thing he'd ever figured Milly Ross would grow up to be. A Marine Corps drill instructor certainly. A breeder of killer Dobermans. A favorite of the WWE's weekly "Smackdown!" series, absolutely. But not compliant.

When he realized he'd heard nothing from the other room for the last few minutes, he called out. "Everything okay in there? Milly?"

He strode quickly into the other room and found her sleeping. She hadn't even unpacked her bags yet, he noted. And she hadn't even bothered to take off her sandals. She looked as if she had just slid the chain into its slot on the door and then had turned around to fall face first onto the bed. She laid on her stomach, her hair spilling from its careless ponytail, on hand curled into a loose fist by her face, the other arm slung in an arc around her head. One leg was bent slightly, the soft white fabric of her dress riding just above that knee, the rest of the dress draping over her frame.

He realized then how thin she was. Much too thin, really. She wore such baggy clothes that he hadn't noticed before but with her dress veiling her body he saw. He wondered how long it had been since she'd had a big enough appetite to enjoy a decent meal.

Then he remembered their dinner at Merle and Wylene's earlier. She had put away her entire and very generous serving of chicken 'n' dumplings' then the last of John's. Plus fried apples and corn-on-the-cob, and for dessert, a big slice of apple pie with vanilla ice cream. He smiled now at the recollection. So maybe she was eating better today than she had for a while. And maybe her father hadn't been so crazy to suggest this trip after all.

And maybe, just maybe John really could show her a good time for the next few days. Hey it was the least he could do, with or without being paid by her father. He owed her. Sighing softly, he moved to turn off the lamp near the bed so that she might sleep through the night. As an afterthought, he carefully removed her sandals and set them on the floor amazed that she didn't stir once during the process. Then he adjusted the air conditioner and pulled a lightweight blanket from the shelf above the alcove designated for hanging clothes and settled the cover carefully over her lower half. And then John told himself to leave and go back to his room.

But something prohibited him from doing that. For some reason, he suddenly left overcome by the feeling that there was something else, something very important that he needed to do before he could call it a night. Unfortunately, he had no idea what that something very important might be.

He watched as Milly as she slept observing the way one wayward length of hair near her mouth danced with every soft breath she exhaled. Not sure why he did it, John nudged the errant tress back over her shoulder. And then even more uncertain why he did it, he bent down and after one small hesitation, brushed his lips lightly over her cheek. But she didn't stir in response to that either save for a soft sigh that may or may not have been the result of his touch.

"Goodnight, Milly." He whispered as he reluctantly drew away. "Have sweet dreams."

Then still feeling disjointed and confused and incomplete, he strode quietly back to his own room, wishing he could figure out just what the hell else it was that he was supposed to do.

He awoke with a jerk several hours later and wrenched himself out of his bed, only to discover that his room was dark. He made his way toward her room and looked in. He found it empty. Milly wasn't in the room or the bed.

John was fighting off a heart attack when he heard a sound from outside, the soft splash of water and the flapping recoil of fiberglass as if someone had just pushed off a diving board and into a pool. Milly. He was sure of it. Swimming had always been the way she'd relieved pent up energy. He knew that because in high school he had worked at the indoor pool facility where the Woodhaven swim team had practiced. He had asked her once why she spent so much time in the pool. She told him that it help alleviate stress.

He pulled on some jeans and made his way outside. Just as he suspected Milly was in the water, arching her arms gracefully over her head as she pulled her body from one end of the pool to the other. For one heart stopping moment, John thought she was naked the lights in the pool played some very erotic tricks on the ol' eyes. The he realized she was wearing beige, one-piece swimsuit and his circulation kicked in again.

John made his way to the Expedition and unlocked the back. He looked around in the bags until he found what he was looking for, a bottle of very good Scotch and a bottle of very fine wine. He pocketed the corkscrew and got a couple of plastic cups and headed to the pool area.

"Pool's closed miss."

Her face was etched with surprise when she glanced up to find him there. Then she smiled an unexpected, conspiratorial little grin that made something inside John pop and fizz.

"But the fence is short." She countered just as quietly. "Climb on over."

"There's no life guard on duty." He pointed out. "You could be taking your life in your hands." But he wasted no time in climbing over the fence.

Once he'd cleared the fence, he walked toward one of the plastic tables near where Milly had stopped. Milly eyed John carefully marking the way the pool lights caused faint ripples of white to dance over his naked chest and the way the top button of his jeans winked playfully in the light. The top button that was unfastened, she couldn't help but register as if he'd been in a hurry when he'd put them on.

It didn't matter if there was no lifeguard on duty or not she thought. It wasn't the water that was dangerous.

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	17. Chapter 17

"I don't think they allow alcoholic beverages out here at the pool." She told him nodding toward the two bottles he had set on the table.

"I guess you read that on the same sign that said the pool is closed after eleven o'clock no exceptions didn't you?" He asked.

"That would be where I learned it about yes."

"I see." He pulled the corkscrew from his pocket and opened the wine. "I recall that you prefer red."

"You remembered." She said striving for a playful, coquettish tone of voice. "I'm flattered."

He smiled as he poured her some in the plastic cup and brought it to her poolside where after pulling her upper body out of the water and resting her arms on the concret, Milly gratefully accepted it.

"John." She began as she watched him splash some of her father's favorite brand of Scotch into the other glass smiling when she realized where he had pilfered his stash. "Do you ever think about high school?"

He finished pouring his drink before he answered then pulled a plastic chair to the edge of the pool and seated himself. "Not often." He said. "I wasn't one of those people who had their entire identity as a human being tied up in their senior class social standing. Nor do I recall were you?"

That was true, Milly conceded. She had moved pretty freely among all the cliques in high school as had John she remembered now. She had had one close friend in high school, Karla Jones. When they moved to Santa Barbara, her father had told her and Mae that they were to have no contact with anyone from Cincinnati. Karla was surprising easy to forget.

No, the only person Milly had continued to think about for a long time after high school was John. For years, she replayed that travesty of a prom night wondering about what she might have done differently that would have resulted in a more agreeable outcome. She had thought things were going nicely between the two of them that night. They had come so close to…

Well, they had come so close. And then John had just..walked away. As a seventeen year old girl, she had been devastated by his rejection. But as a thirty four year old woman, she knew there were worse things in life than being left crying and untouched in the backseat of a car.

"Do you think about high school?" He asked this time.

"Not really. At least I didn't until the invitation to the reunion arrived."

"So how did the reunion committee find you?" He asked getting off the subject of high school a little bit. "God knows nobody knew where you went."

"Actually they found Mae. She went back to Cincinnati last fall for her job and ran into Michelle Camden who was the head of the reunion committee. Evidently she was delighted to see Mae. Everyone thought we'd both dropped off the face of the Earth."

"It was worse than that. It was like you'd just disappeared from the universe and there was a big gaping black hole left in your wake."

Milly found it impossible to pull her gaze away from his, so amazed was she that he would offer such a candid admission. And as she studied him something inside her stirred to life that hadn't been active for some time. A feeling of mischief. A much delayed too long dormant feeling of mischief. Of amusement. Of fun.

"Refill please." She said tipping her cup at him.

He seemed a bit surprised that she would be making such a request but he rose to accommodate her. Milly waited patiently as he poured her another round. And she smiled her gratitude when he returned to hand it her. But when she reached up to take the wine from him instead of curling her fingers around the cup, she circled them around his wrist instead. And before he had a chance to determine her intention, she tugged hard, pulling him headfirst into the water.

He was sputtering when he broke the surface his expression one of stark and intense. She smiled. For the first time since she'd seen him standing in her father's study two nights ago she and John were on the same wavelength.

"I cannot believe you're out here swimming in water this cold." He gasped.

"And I cannot believe you spilled my wine. That's going to cost you. Severely."

She looked at John. The water of the pool halted just below his chest. Thin rivulets streamed off his shoulders and meandered down his biceps, those broad solid shoulders and those dense, prominent biceps. John had clearly pumped some iron since high school, she thought idly, watching the moment of the water as it wound over his body. And she couldn't help wondering what it would be like to let her fingers wander along the same path.

She realized she never should have started this whatever it was with him. She never should have started this because she was beginning to suspect that this was something she wasn't prepared to finish. Judging by the expression on John's face he clearly did intend to finish this. Only this to him was obviously not what this was to her.

"I'm going to pay severely?" He repeated lightly. "Promises, promises, Milly. Come and get me then I dare you."

Oh he would do that she thought. He knew she'd never been able to resist a dare. At least she hadn't been able to resist a dare when she was in high school. Not when John Cena was the one issuing it. "You dare me?"

"Yeah I dare you. In fact, I double dare you."

"Ooo, you're pushing it John"

"Am I?"

"You know I never turn down a dare." She reminded him.

He pretended to stifle a yawn. "I'm waaaiiiting…"

As much as Milly wanted to go over and dunk him, she hesitated. "Game over, John. Never mind. Forget I said anything."

"There are some things, Milly I can never forget." He leaned in closer to her and she thought he was going to kiss her instead he pulled her under the water.

"You.. you.. you.." She sputtered as she shot back out of the water. "Now you're really going to pay."

"Yeah, yeah , yeah." He said. "Like I said promises, promises Milly."

He moved closer to her and leaned in. "I'd say that little stunt you pulled makes us even."

"Actually, I think I'm still one up on you." She countered.

"You're still one up on me?" He asked moving closer. "How do you figure that?"

"First, I pulled you in and then I dunked you. You just dunked me. So it's still two to one. I'm ahead."

"Mm." He replied evenly, his gazed still fixed on hers. But he said nothing more for a moment only raked one thumb lightly down over her ribs then back up again. "Gee. Then I guess I'll just have to even the score another way, won't I?"

Before she had a chance to ask him how he planned to do that. John showed her by dipping his head toward hers and covering her mouth with his. It wasn't a passionate, hungry kiss but she felt the pull of his desire as keenly as she felt her own. Slowly, tenderly, he brushed his mouth over hers, once, twice, three times, before dragging the tip of his tongue along the plump curve of her lower lip. Somewhere inside Milly, someplace down so deep and dark that she'd forgotten anything was there, something roused and grew warm that had been cold for much too long. Slowly, the ember sparked, gradually it flamed and little by little that flame flickered into fire. She curled the finger of one hand around his neck and threaded the others through his wet hair. And then she tilted her head to the side, just a bit, enough to facilitate his exploration. It was all the encouragement John needed.

Because the moment she offered him even that tiny bit of reassurance he pressed his mouth to hers again, more insistently this time, claiming her as if well, as if she was his for the taking. And as Milly melted into the kiss, she realized she couldn't quite deny that she wasn't. His for the taking. His for whatever he wanted. His for however long, he wanted her. Because suddenly or maybe it wasn't so sudden at all Milly wanted to take John too.

The memory of another time, another place and a feeling very much like this one. Milly felt as if she were seventeen again and had just encountered John Cena in a desert hallway at Woodhaven High and he had kissed her, deeply, wantonly with an almost drugging effect. He had cupped his hand gently over her breast that day, the first time she had ever allowed a boy such a liberty. And with that simple touch, such heat, such need had shot through her

Now that episode folded over into this one and Milly let herself go with it, let the woman and the girl join together as one. And oh, how the woman and the girl reacted. Passion gusted in her chest, blasting warmth throughout her body, hastening her heart rate to a dizzying pace. In that moment she was seventeen ago and nothing of her adult life corrupted what she had been at that tender age. There was only John and the way he made her feel, the way he'd always made her feel. And there was heat, hunger and there was freedom to do whatever she wanted to do.

Reflexively, she tightened her hands on his shoulders and wound her legs around his thighs. She crowded her body against his, opened her body against his and with one slow, swaying motion dragged herself up and over his torso then down again, the erotic friction of having him against her almost more than she could abide. John dropped both hands to her bottom, tucking his fingers beneath the tight fabric of her suit.

Milly gasped in response to the intimate touch and he took advantage of her reaction by intensifying their kiss. He filled her mouth with his tongue tasting her as thoroughly as he could and she opened herself wider, inviting him to explore her more deeply still. Milly pulled herself closer, rubbed her body against his and fought for possession for their kiss.

And then just when the stakes were about as high as they could be without tumbling, just when she was beginning to believe that yes, maybe she and John could go back to where they'd fallen off track and start anew, just when she felt as if there was some hope for, John pushed her away.

Or maybe he pulled himself away, Milly wasn't sure. In any event, when he released her and turned his back on her, she slipped down below the water because she had nothing to hold on to for support, nothing to keep her from falling.

She saw John swimming toward the shallow end of the pool and pushed himself out. He kept his back turned to her. All Milly could do was think, not again please John. Don't do this to me again.

"John." She called out softly.

He went absolutely rigid at her appeal but he didn't turn around to look at her.

"John?" She tried again more softly this time more fearfully.

She thought he would leave then without once looking back, just as he had left her that night. And indeed he did take a single step away from her toward the gate. But he'd barely completed the step when he must have reconsidered, because he slowly turned to face her. Milly held her breath as she waited to hear what he would say.

"That, um, that shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry. I had no right to.. to."

She squeezed her eyes shut tight not wanting to hear anymore. Maybe it would have been better if he had just walked away. "Don't." she told him. "Don't say another word."

"Milly, I—"

"Don't." She said again more firmly this time.

"But you don't—"

"Don't you dare apologize to me. And don't even try to explain." Somehow she managed to look him in the eye when she added. ."We'll just pretend this didn't happen and you'll just stay away from me for the rest of the trip."

He inhaled a deep breath and expelled it slowly. "That's going to be a bit difficult, don't you think? The Expedition's not that big and I promised your father."

"That you'd show me a good time?" She finished sarcastically. "Thanks John but if this is the way you plan to go about it, don't bother."

"I was going to say that I promised your father I'd stay close to you. That I'd keep you safe."

"Fine. Stay close. Keep me safe. Just don't, don't.."

"Don't what?" He asked softly.

She didn't answer him. This time Milly turned her back to him and plunged back into the water. She began to swim back and forth over and over again until finally John left. She finally stopped and got out. She headed to the table where John had set their drinks earlier. As she toweled herself off, she noticed that the light was still on in his room and she noticed that he'd taken the bottle of Scotch with him.

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	18. Chapter 18

The caustic thump for which John had been listening all morning, ever since he'd heard the slamming of Milly's door last night, was punctuated by an unbroken and seemingly endless echo of that thump. He sighed raggedly and tried not to look at the almost half empty bottle of forty-two-year-old Scotch that sat on the nightstand.

With his hangover, every little sound Milly made from her room was amplified. He knew exactly when she had awakened because her telephone had rung a few minutes after seven. He knew exactly when she had showered, because the water had come on in her bathroom just before seven-thirty. And he knew exactly when she had finished packing her suitcase because the zipper had whisked down its track shortly after eight. And he knew exactly when the taxi arrived too because the driver laid on the horn.

He just barely managed to make it outside before Milly finished hauling her bags out of the Expedition clearly intending to shove them into the waiting cab. He made his way out and walked up to her.

She turned to look at him with anger in her face. "I'm flying to Cincinnati this morning, John. Don't try to stop me."

He sighed heavily. "Milly, we have to talk."

"I've already talked. Obviously you're not listening. So let me reiterate. I'm flying to Cincinnati this morning, John. Don't try to stop me."

"Fine. You've talked. Now it's my turn. Listen closely." He leaned forward to her. "You are not flying to Cincinnati this morning, Milly. I will stop you."

Instead of replying to John, she turned to the cabby who had step out of his car and was approaching the couple. "You can start putting these bags in the trunk, please." She told him.

John, too, turned to the oncoming cabby. "Put any of those bags in the trunk and I'll see to it personally that you're charged with aiding and abetting a felon."

"What?"

Surprisingly, the exclamation came not from the cabby but from Milly. "This woman is wanted in five states for committing a string of nefarious felonies."

The cabby stopped dead in his tracks in astonishment. He glanced at Milly, John could tell immediately that he was surprised by that.

"You'd never know it to look at her, would you?" John asked. "She seems so innocent, doesn't she? But I assure you, she's responsible for crimes so depraved, that I can't even begin to tell you about them."

The cabby stepped back and headed back to his car. He quickly left before more was said. John turned his attention back to Milly.

"I have to shower and pack and then we can go."

"Fine. Shower and pack."

"And while I'm showering, you can sit in the bathroom with me and sing 'Oh Susannah' at the top of your lungs."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Funnily enough Milly, I don't trust you not to go running off with the first cabby that comes along the minute my back is turned."

She gaped at him. "You don't trust me? That a laugh."

"Oh and what have I done that might make you mistrust me?"

"Gee, let me think a minute. Well there is that kidnapping business for one."

"Don't tell me you're going to hold a little kidnapping against me."

"And the reason I shouldn't hold that against you would be."

"Oh come one. What's a little abduction between friends?"

"We are not friends."

"Then what are we?"

"Archenemies, John."

"Okay." He relented. "You don't have to sing 'Oh Susannah' if you don't want to. If you'd rather perform something from the Beatles songbook."

"I'm not going to sit in your bathroom and sing to you while you shower, John."

"Suits me. I just hope you don't mind being stuck with one stinky guy in one very small truck for the rest of the day."

"Okay, fine. I'll sing." She said with a smile. "I just hope you like Barry Manilow."

"If you must." He muttered distastefully.

"I must and one more thing John. We are not going to visit the Grand Canyon today. The sooner we get to Cincinnati, the better."

Before he could say anything in response to Milly's assertion, she continued. "From here on out, we're not stopping for anything except sleep and food. You want to show me a good time John? Then get me back to Cincinnati. And when we get there, you can leave me alone."

For some reason hearing the song, "Mandy" being screamed at the top of Milly's lungs reminded John way too much of what had happened in the wee hours of that morning. He still couldn't figure out what had come over him to make him kiss her. She had just looked so beautiful and tempting and she had felt so good to touch, and he simply had not been able to help himself. And after that first, experimental contact, he hadn't been able to stop himself. She'd tasted sweet and fresh and innocent, just as she had tasted that day in the hallway of Woodhaven High School sixteen years earlier. And John had reacted exactly the same way he had back then.

Well okay not exactly the same way, he admitted. And that was where the agonizing part came in. Because as he had deepened the kiss as Milly had opened herself so freely to him as she had returned his passion with equal fire and equal demand, he'd felt his heart skyrocket and his good sense plummet. And he'd felt the heat and need and hunger and a riot of other emotions. Unfortunately, what he hadn't felt was any kind of physical action below the waist.

He'd tried to tell himself it was because the water was cold. He'd tried to remind himself that sometimes it took a while for a man to you know. Get fired up. Even thought it had never taken him a while before, except for prom night. But he hadn't succeeded in convincing himself that either of those things was responsible for his appalling state of non-arousal. In fact, the moment John had realized what was happening again or what wasn't happening again, he'd just panicked. And panicking had done nothing to help rectify the situation. In fact panicking had only compounded the problem. Especially since it had been that panic that had caused him to turn away from Milly.

He squeezed his eyes shut tight and ground his teeth together. Not because Milly had executed an unsuccessful segue from "Mandy" to "Copa Cabana" just then but because John remembered all too well the expression on her face when he had pushed her away the night before. It had been the same expression she'd had on her face on prom night. And her voice last night when she'd called out his name had been every bit as plaintive as it had that other night.

For sixteen years, the mournful echo of her voice had rolled around in his head, calling out to him as it had when he'd walked away from Adam Copeland's car that night. Last night, that memory had stopped being a memory it had became a reality once again. And John was no better equipped to deal with her anguish today than he had been then. When she'd uttered his name last night, he'd been hurtled sixteen years back in time, feeling like the confused eighteen year old boy who hadn't known what he was supposed to do. It had been bad enough being that boy once. He sure as hell didn't want to be him again.

But that was exactly how Milly made him feel last night. And that was why he had turned his back on her both literally and figuratively. Oh God. How could he ever offer her an adequate apology for that? He hadn't even been able to explain his action for what happened that first time not that Milly had ever asked for an explanation, then or now, something that still kind of surprised him. But even if he somehow managed to explain that first episode how could he excuse his behavior for the more recent one? So John said nothing at all. Hell, what could he say that wouldn't make things worse than they already were? Not that Milly wanted to talk to him anyway. Not that he could blame her for that.

He blew out an exasperated breath as he ducked his head under the shower again, feeling grateful that the rush of water overrode Milly's new segue from "Copa Cabana" to "Could This Be the Magic?" One thing was certain, he decided right then. There was no way he could allow himself to get as close to her again as he had last night. But there was no way he could leave her alone. Not along the way. And not once they arrived in Cincinnati, either. He still wasn't convinced of JR's insistence that Milly was in danger back in Ohio but John didn't want to take any chances. Then again, when he got right down to it, that wasn't why he wanted to stay close to Milly anyway.

It was going to be a long trip home.

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	19. Chapter 19

Milly's tension eased a little once they left the Canyon Vista Motor Lodge, partly because she had convinced John to let her drive, something she hoped would take her mind off other things, but mostly because he fell asleep in the passenger seat before they'd even cleared the Flagstaff city limits. Still, it was only when she heard a soft snore erupt from his side of the SUV, when she knew he was fully unconscious, that she was finally able to relax. Until she remembered what had happened the night before.

For perhaps the hundredth time, she tried to convince herself that her embrace with John in the pool had been nothing but a dream. But unfortunately, she was no more able to convince herself of that now in broad day light than she had in the early morning.

John had kissed her last night. He had settled his hands on her waist, he had pulled her close and he had kissed her. He had done all those things, intentionally, purposefully. Certainly Milly had been a willing participant but he had been the one who had instigated everything. And he had been the one who had ended it. And just as before, none of it made any sense. Then that was John. If ever there was a senseless human being.

She glanced over at him, he smelled like Ivory soap and men's shampoo and John. She smiled. Even after sixteen years, something of his scent was familiar to her. And he wasn't senseless, she told herself. In spite of everything, she still thought he was a good guy. He was just a good guy she couldn't figure out.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked softly.

"I'm wondering how much longer 'till we get there." She lied.

"It won't be today." He told her.

"Well, I did sort of figure that."

"You might as well try to enjoy the ride."

"I would if the company weren't so disagreeable."

He said nothing in response to that, although she sensed that he wanted to. In an effort to keep him from talking about something she didn't want to talk about, she quickly pitched into a different line of questioning. "So what's the story with you and Mike Mizanin?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"You said you met him in jail. He's currently with my sister. I want to be sure she's safe with him."

"No worries there." John promised her. "Mike is the most trustworthy guy I've ever met."

"And you meet a lot of trustworthy people in jail, do you?"

"Actually Mike is the only person I've ever met in jail."

"Gee, that's quite the testimonial for Mr. Mizanin." Milly said dryly. "Not to mention for you yourself."

John expelled a resigned sigh. "Look I've known Mike for four years, Milly. He's a good guy."

"Then what was he doing in jail?" She asked. "For that matter, what were you doing in jail? Not that I can't hazard a few guesses."

"And none of your guesses would come close to the truth." He said indignantly. "For your information, I was only in jail because I sent a chair through a barroom window. Accidentally."

"Actually that's not so far from one of my guesses at all. Except I figured there would have been someone sitting in the chair when it went through the window."

"There was no one sitting in the chair when I sent it through the window. Accidentally I mean."

"No?"

"No, the guy fell out of the chair before I picked it up."

"And did he have any help falling out of the chair?" She asked sweetly.

"Maybe a little."

"Like maybe he was pushed."

"Maybe."

"By someone's fist perhaps?"

"Could be. My memory's not so clear."

"I see."

"Hey, the guy had been bothering one of the waitresses, shoving her around." John said. "He deserved to accidentally fall out of a chair after maybe being pushed a little. If his friend hadn't beat the hell of me just then I would've sent the guy through the window too right after his chair."

Milly decided not to comment on that. Not just because she didn't want to think about anyone beating the hell out of John but because she didn't want to think of him defending another woman's honor, a stranger no less, when he'd pretty much walked away from hers.

"And why was Mr. Mizanin in jail?" She asked instead. "Was he part of the scuffle?"

"Actually it wasn't so much a scuffle as it was a vicious bloody fistfight."

"But you were going to tell me what Mr. Mizanin was doing in jail?" Milly asked again.

"Right." John concurred. "Mike was in jail because a judge found him in contempt of court and had him put there until he was less contemptible, I guess."

"Oh, well, that's interesting."

"He refused to testify against some woman friend of his who'd been charged with her husband's murder." John clarified.

"A woman friend." She repeated. "Accused of her husband's murder. That doesn't sound good, John."

"Mike knew she was innocent, but I guess things did look bad for her at that point. Anyway, she wound up going free the very next day because some other evidence came to light that made it clear her husband's business partner committed the crime. And then they let Mike out of jail."

"And what happened to the woman friend?"

"I don't know. But she didn't take up with Mike if that's what you're asking."

"That's what I'm asking."

She heard John chuckle. "Mike doesn't have a wife and kids stashed somewhere, in case you're worried that Mae will lose her heart to some two timing jerk."

"Actually, I'm not worried about that." Milly said. Mae was after all saving herself for Chris Irvine. "I just want to make sure the guy has scruples."

"Listen Mike is the safest, most decent guy I know. He's big on taking care of himself and other people. He doesn't sleep around. He eats all that healthy crap and works out regularly. He rarely drinks, he doesn't smoke, and he doesn't raise hell."

"So how did the two of you get to be friends? It doesn't sound like you have a lot in common."

"It was a long time ago. I can't remember what got me and Mike started talking that night but we realized we had some friends in common. One thing led to another and within a few months we were going into business together."

"He's from Cincinnati originally then?"

"You know, I don't really know where he grew up." John said thoughtfully. "I'm not even sure he has any family. Or where he went to college. Or even if he did go to college. Mike doesn't talk about himself a lot."

"Sounds like he doesn't talk about himself at all." Milly observed.

"Hm. I guess he doesn't."

"Yet you claim you know him well."

"I do know him well."

"But—"

"I know what's important about Mike, Milly. And Mae is perfectly safe with him. Trust me."

Oh sure, like she was dumb enough to do that. Still something told her that her sister was indeed in good hands with Mike Mizanin. Milly just hoped that his presence didn't cramp Mae's style when it came time for her to bag Chris Irvine. That could create some turbulence. To put it mildly.

Neither of them said a word after that and after a while, Milly heard another one of those soft, muffled snores indicating that John had drifted back to sleep. She wondered if he'd slept any more last night than she had. Probably neither one of them was fit to drive any great distance today. Might not hurt to stop early for the night. Of course that would just make their arrival in Cincinnati take that much longer.

She bit back a yawn and drove on in silence until she just couldn't stand the quiet any longer. Switching on the radio, she left the volume low, and then spun the dial slowly until she heard the pull of a DJ's mellow voice.

"Comin' up in just a few minutes, we've got an oldie but goodie from Pat Benatar 'We Belong Together' Hope you stay with us. 'Cause we've got a totally eighties Monday comin' atcha."

Stifling a groan, Milly spun the dial again and she wondered how long until they got there.

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	20. Chapter 20

Mike rattled open the sports section of the Cincinnati Enquirer, set his orange juice back down on the table and watched unobtrusively as Mae Ross daintily lifted her teacup for a sip of her decaffeinated green tea. And more than anything in the whole world, he wanted to calmly stand, calmly circle the table and calmly pull her out of her chair. Then he wanted to calmly slip her robe from her shoulders and calmly tug her nightgown up over her head. Then he wanted to calmly bend her forward over the table, calmly unzip his pants and not so calmly have his way with her naked body from behind. Over and over and over again as many times as he could.

He squeezed his eyes shut tight and tried to expel the graphic vision from his brain. But the more he tried to erase it, the more vivid it became. He could almost feel the lush plumpness of her breast filing one hand, her nipple caught between index and middle fingers as he pressed himself harder against her. He could practically taste the sweet heat of her naked flesh as he draped the tip of his tongue over her bare back and shoulder. He could practically hear her panting his name, begging him to please, please, please, Mike, please don't ever stop as he thrust himself into her over and over and over again, as many times as he could.

Why he should keep experiencing such a fantasy and with such clarity was beyond him. It wasn't like she'd offered even the tiniest bit of encouragement or even the tiniest bit of interest. On the contrary, she'd barely acknowledged his presence since their arrival at the hotel Sunday night.

He wasn't sure even sure he liked her. And he couldn't understand it. It had been a long time since he'd experienced such an immediately and intense physical reaction to a woman. These days, Mike wasn't like most men. He wanted, needed some kind of emotional commitment from a woman before he would even consider becoming sexually involved with her. Of course he had had his fun in past but now he was control of his life, his libido, himself. At least he had been until Mae Ross had come along. And with Mae Ross. He wanted her now. Physically, primitively, and profoundly.

He wondered how she felt about sex herself, whether she shared his current opinion of its sanctity or if she could blithely copulate with whomever she might find attractive. He wondered how many lovers she'd had or if she'd had any at all. He wondered if she was as pure and innocent as so many things about her suggested or if her purity and innocence were just a façade.

"I'll be going out today." She said suddenly.

"Where?" He asked.

"Woodhaven."

"May I ask why?"

"You may."

"Why?"

"You'll find out when we get there."

"You sure I won't be a millstone around your neck?"

"Oh, I don't doubt for a moment that you'll be a millstone around my neck." She promptly replied. "But I also don't doubt for a moment that you'll be staying with me all day. So I have no choice but to take you with me, have I?

"Gee, Miss Ross." He said blandly. "Keep sweet talking me like that and I'm going to start thinking you've got a big ol' crush on me."

"That's highly unlikely."

"Oh that's right. You're all keen to replace some guy's dead wife whom he's loved since childhood. I keep forgetting that."

She stood up quickly her chair and focused her attention on Mike. "You have no idea what I'm keen to do Mr. Mizanin. I'll be ready in twenty minutes. Bring the car around."

"Yes Your Majesty whatever you say."

Mae called herself every nasty thing she could think of as she plunked the last of the bobby pin from her hair and remembered how badly she had just treated Mike. She sighed as she pulled a sleeveless pale lavender dress over her body and slipped her feet into sandals. She concluded by assuring herself she was a very mean person.

But she didn't know of any other way to act around Mike. There was something about him that scared her. From that first night in her father's study, he'd roused feelings in her she hadn't understood, feelings that had startled her. She was attracted to him that much she knew. She had expected to be alone when she went downstairs for breakfast. But when she rounded the corner, she'd seen him emerging from the bathroom dressed only in a white towel.

He hadn't sensed her presence and Mae had found it impossible to drag her gaze away from him. Instead she had backed up a few steps so that she could peek around and she had watched him intently. Unaware that he was being spied upon, Mike had strode to the dresser to withdraw a pair of blue jeans and a crew neck shirt along with a pair of briefs and socks. He'd strolled to the television set and palmed the remote control turning it to CNN.

Mae had never seen a man move that way, so confidently, and so casually. And she had never observed one moving about without clothing to hinder his progress. She'd been captivated by the simplicity and facility of it. And just as those revelations had formed in her head, Mike had unhitched the towel from his waist and tossed it carelessly aside. And fully naked, he had turned around to put on his clothes.

Mae closed her eyes now as heat washed over her again, recalling her brief glimpse of his body completely naked offering a view of full frontal and full backal nudity. He had been glorious in his nakedness, more beautiful than anything she had ever seen. So beautiful that she had scarcely been able to tolerate the sight. She had scrambled back up the stairs to her own room as quickly as she could and she'd fled to her bathroom, locking the door and leaning back against it to catch her breath. Her reaction to Mike had been so fierce and unexpected, and her heart had raced so rapidly, that she'd grown dizzy from the rush of blood.

She still wasn't sure if she'd ever feel steady again. Certainly she wouldn't as long as the vision of Mike Mizanin, naked Mike Mizanin, was tumbling around in her brain. And she was fairly certain that vision was going to remain a permanent fixture in her head, whether she liked it or not. Strangely though she found she did like it. In fact she rather liked it a lot.

And she rather liked the coil of excitement that scrolled through her body upon recalling that vision. She even liked the way her body grew warm and damp at the recollection. Whatever it was that Mike Mizanin made her feel it wasn't, on second through, such a terrible thing. Not as terrible as she might have thought it would be. Though it most definitely played havoc with her plans for Chris Irvine.

Which now that she thought about it, might be the true root of her foul temper this morning. Her plans weren't going according to plan. And if there was one thing Mae disliked intensely it was having her plans not go according to plan. She sighed heavily. She would just have to focus more intently on the real reason she had returned to Cincinnati. For Chris. She could not, would not, let anything interfere with that. Not even a Geek god piece of artwork named Mike Mizanin, who made her body respond in ways she had never thought it could response.

Chris, she repeated adamantly to herself. Not Mike. Her focus now was trained intently on the former. So with one final, fortifying breath, Mae headed downstairs to meet the latter. And she tried not to think about what an exceptional body her guard had.

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	21. Chapter 21

Mike wasn't surprised to discover that Mae Ross knew where Chris Irvine worked, in one of downtown Cincinnati's older, sophisticated high-rises. Which did surprise him was that she knew Chris would leave that building at precisely twelve noon. What surprised him even more was that she knew he would drive north on I-75 in his silver Jaguar sedan, to meet an associate for lunch at a bustling eatery in Sharonville. But that was exactly what Chris and consequently, Mike and Mae did.

Even more surprisingly Mae asked Mike to hang back a bit as they drove to give Chris a good lead that would enable him to meet his associate and get settled at his table before she and Mike arrived on the scene. And she told him not to worry, that they like Chris had a reservation for lunch thereby guaranteeing them a table. A table, however, wasn't' what concerned Mike at the moment. What did concern him was how Mae Ross seemed to be taking on all the qualities of a stalker.

His curiosity finally got the better of him as he pulled the big Town Car into one of the few parking spots left at the restaurant. Before Mae had a chance to open the door and get out, Mike turned toward her, stretching his arm along the back of the seat, resting it lightly on her shoulder to prevent her flight. The movement his fingers made contact with her bare skin, however, she angled her body away from his touch without a comment. Her expression, however, was inquisitive.

"How did you know Chris Irvine would be coming here?"

"I have my ways."

"And they would include?"

She eyed him levelly. "I may not have lived in Cincinnati for a long time, Mr. Mizanin, but that doesn't mean I don't still have friends here."

"And one of those friends works with Chris Irvine?"

"You could say that."

"Or I could say something else?"

"We have a reservation." She reminded him as she opened the door and got out.

Mike relented for now and followed her. Neither of them spoke until they were showed to their table, a table that was located, surprise, surprised, only two tables away from the blond, the blue eyed, Chris. Damn the man.

Mike pretended to study the menu their server unfolded in front of him but his attention was trained fully on Mae who was seated, what a shocker, facing Chris Irvine. He'd expected her to be focused on Chris but so far she hadn't even spared a glance in the man's direction. In made no sense. For all the trouble she'd gone to to ensure the proper arrangements, she acted like she couldn't care less about the object of her affections. Or rather the object of her stalking. Whatever.

That wasn't, however, the case with the stalkee, as became evident immediately. Because no sooner had Mike observed Mae's lack of interest in Chris Irvine than Chris Irvine himself appeared at their table. In fact so swift and intense was the man's appearance that it frankly gave Mike the creeps.

"Mae?" The other man asked in a voice of obviously delighted surprise. "Mae Ross? Is that you?"

Instead of turning his attention to Chris, Mike watched Mae's reaction. Had he not know better, he would have thought she honestly didn't recognize the man she had traveled two thousand miles to see? For a moment, she only gazed at him with her brow furrowed, as if she was struggling very hard to identify who he was. Then, finally, her expression cleared and she smiled.

"Chris Irvine." She said sounding as if she were genuinely and pleasantly astonished to see him. "Well, my goodness. What a surprise."

"I could say the same thing myself." He rejoined easily. "My God, how long has it been? Sixteen years, isn't it?"

"Almost to the day." She agreed.

"That's right. The last time we saw each other was the night of the senior prom, wasn't' it? Your family moved shortly after that."

"You remember our last meeting." She murmured. "I'm flattered."

"Remember it?" He echoed. "How could I forget? We had a good time that night, didn't we Mae?"

"The best." She concurred softly.

A very meaning full silence followed at least Mike figured it was meaningful to them, even if he himself had no idea what it meant until he began to grow uncomfortable with it.

"Oh." Mae said, snapping out of her seeming trance. "Brian, I'd like you to meet my cousin, Percy." She added mischievously. "Percy Lipschitz."

Even Chris seemed surprised by the name but he extended his hand to Mike. "Mr. Lipschitz."

"Please." Mike said. "Call me" he eyed Mae venomously. "Percy."

Brian shook his hand and then turned his attention quickly back to Mae. "I don't remember you having any cousins here in town named Lipschitz."

And was that suspicion Mike saw crossing the other man's face? Or was Mike merely transferring his own feelings over Chris Irvine?

"Percy lives up in Dayton." Mae said. "He drove down to meet me when he heard I was going to be in town. His mother was my mother's cousin. Miriam Wentworth Lipschitz."

"Ah, I see."

But Mike could tell the other man didn't see at all. Chris was suspicious of something. Mike sensed it. Of course Chris was probably just wondering if Mike was actually Mae's cousin or perhaps a more intimate acquaintance.

"I guess you're back in town for the class reunion, aren't you?" Chris asked now returning his attention to Mae and dismissing Mike with all the interest one might display for a crouton in the salad.

"Among other things." Mae told him.

"Well I'd love to get together with you while you're here." Chris said. "Besides at the reunion, I mean. We can talk about old times."

Mae smiled that peaceful, self-contained little smile again. "I'd like that Chris." She said softly. "I'd like that very much."

He smiled back. "Do you have any plans this evening?"

Jeez, Chris can you be any more obvious? Mike thought. Show some restraint, man. You'll give our gender a bad name.

"Oh I'm sorry." Mae said, much to Mike's amazement. He hadn't thought she would prolong for a moment a tryst with her beloved Chris. "I can't tonight. I have plans."

"Then what are you doing tomorrow night?" Chris asked without missing a beat.

Down boy, Mike thought. But he supposed he really couldn't blame the other man for his enthusiasm. Had circumstances been different he probably would have been reacting the same way himself. Except that he probably wouldn't be drooling quite as much as Chris was.

"I can't tomorrow, either." Mae said surprising Mike again. But she offered no reason for declining.

"Thursday then." Chris said insistently. He smiled a very oily smile, then added. "You know, I never did get to show you my family's boathouse on the river the way I'd planned to do when we were in high school. I'd love to show it to you now. It's nice and secluded. The perfect place for." He glanced surreptitiously at Mike then back to Mae. "For what the two of us might have shared had you and your family not moved away so suddenly." He concluded.

She hesitated, pretending to think about whether or not she might be available. "Thursday might be doable." She finally told him. She didn't even spare Mike the tiniest bit of interest as she further replied. "I think I could make it then. What exactly did you have in mind?"

The other man's smile now was downright lecherous. So much so that Mike just about launched himself out of the chair to feed the guy something that most definitely was not on the menu, namely his fist.

"Oh, I don't know exactly." Chris said in response to Mae's question. "As I mentioned, maybe we can revisit old times. Where are you staying? I'll pick you up at seven on Thursday."

This time Mae was the one whose smile was radiant. "I'm in the Rivermont Suite at the Stanhope. I'll be ready for you on Thursday at seven."

But there was something in her voice when she spoke that made all those hairs on Mike's neck go jumping to attention again. And there was something in Chris Irvine's eyes that made his blood run a little cold.

Creepy, really creepy.

Forget Jim Ross's nebulous, sixteen-year old threat, Mike thought. As long as Chris Irvine was around, Mike wasn't going to let Mae Ross out of his sight.

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	22. Chapter 22

"Hey Tulsa! It's a bright, gorgeous Wednesday afternoon. And right now, a tune from one of my favorite bands, The Plimsouls. They're 'A Million Miles Away.'"

Boy they weren't the only ones who were a million miles away, John thought as he lowered the volume on the song. He glanced over at the passenger side of the Expedition or more specifically, at the passenger of the Expedition and sighed to himself. So far, this trip hadn't gone quite the way he'd anticipated. He'd figured that by now Milly would be cast off the liberation. At the very least, he'd figured she would be having a reasonably good time. But she wasn't having a good time. Not really, not the way she was supposed to be.

They'd spent Monday night in Santa Fe having ended up there because Milly had pulled a Bugs Bunny during one of her stints at the wheel, taking a wrong turn at Albacoiky. As wrong turns went though that had been a good one. But as quaint and as splendid as Santa Fe had been neither he nor Milly had been able to enjoy it as well as they might have under other circumstances.

Circumstances like, oh, John didn't know like maybe if he hadn't abducted her and forced her to drive cross-country with him whether she liked it or not because her father was paying him a bundle of money to do it. Or circumstances like oh gee like maybe if he hadn't kissed her in the pool that first night on the road and hadn't worked them both into a frenzy of sexual need and then hadn't coldly rejected her in much the same way as he had on prom night.

But in the circumstances other than those, they might be having a really good time right now. Anyway, they'd both been pretty beat by the time they'd hit Santa Fe due to lack of sleep among other on Sunday. In spite of that, John had coaxed and cajoled Milly into taking in some of the sights and they had strolled along Canyon Road, enjoying the galleries, the studios, and the shops. Once or twice he had glanced over to find her fascinated by some brightly painted piece of pottery and better still once or twice he had seen her smile.

On Tuesday they'd taken their time driving and had opted to spend the night in Amarillo. And once again John had coaxed and cajoled Milly into visiting a few places beyond their motel room. Milly's favorite place in Amarillo, though, not that she would admit it, had been the Wonderful Park amusement park. John knew it was her favorite place because he'd caught her smiling a full four times while they were there. And even though he hadn' t been able to coax or cajole her onto the Texas Tornado, she had at least conceded to let him win her a big ol' hot pink teddy bear one who was wearing a perpetual expression of total surprise. Currently it was in the back seat of the Expedition taking up way more room than it deserved but John didn't care because he'd won it for Milly and something about that just made him feel really, really happy inside even if such a happy feeling still eluded her.

It rained that night when they stayed in Tulsa. Not a languid, romantic little cloudburst but a full blown angrily gusting thunderstorm. It roared in just past midnight waking Milly from what had only been a moderately restful sleep anyway. Still she had been dreaming, good dreams. One minute she was standing on a sunset beach in Santa Barbara. Then the next minute a brutal crack of thunder was jolting her awake with a startle factor powerful enough to topple her out of bed. For a moment, she couldn't remember who or where or what she was, and in the moment she panicked. Because in that moment, Milly honestly didn't know who or where or what she was. She couldn't get her bearing at all. John?

She thought his name just scrolled through her head and only then because she had been dreaming of him. She didn't realize she'd consciously called out to him not until he was crouching beside the bed beside her, curling his hand gently around her upper arm. Still a bit dazed and a lot confused she looked up at him, but in the darkness, all she could distinguish was a masculine outline. And in that peculiar, capricious moment, she was suddenly uncertain about everything except that there was a man crouching over her, touching her, murmuring soft, unintelligible words to her. Edwin?

She hadn't intended to voice that name, either but she must have because the man standing over her, Wyatt? Edwin? went momentarily rigid. And then just as suddenly, he relaxed. "It's me, Milly." He said softly. "It's John. It's okay."

"Oh, John."

She did consciously speak his name aloud this time, and in doing so, she must have uttered the magic word that broke the odd spell that had visited her. Because the moment she murmured John's name, Milly began to feel more certain of her surroundings more certain of her situation, more certain of herself.

She let him help her up from the floor, let him sit her down on the edge of bed, let him sit himself down beside her, let him switch on the bedside lamp. She was vaguely conscious of the fact that she was wearing her pajamas, a cream colored silk combination of short sleeved shirt and boxers, but somehow the knowledge of that didn't concern her. What did worry her was the fact that John had once again obviously been in a hurry when he'd dressed and had donned only a pair blue jeans before coming to her aid.

Now she became very aware of his closeness, not to mention his half nakedness, and of the way his bare arm brushed along hers when he folded his body down beside her, the way the heat of his skin seemed to seep into her own. She noticed how his biceps flexed and relaxed as he lifted a hand to run his fingers through his unruly hair. She then forced her gaze higher, and when she looked into his eyes she saw concern for well being and something else too, something that looked very much like affection which she hoped she only imagined.

Because any affection John might potentially feel for her was actually leftover affection for the vibrant, sassy girl he recalled from his youth. And she was a girl who existed nowhere now but in his memories. Whatever John might feel for Milly now. She didn't want to think about what he might feel for her now. Because she was confident it wasn't what she suspected she was feeling for him. And what she was feeling of him although it may have started off as leftover affection too was fast growing into something else entirely. Something that had nothing to do with two teenagers. Something that was most assuredly, adult in nature. Something she was in no way certain that she could even trust.

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	23. Chapter 23

Another vicious clap of thunder clamored over head, virtually shaking the motel and literally shaking Milly. Despite the ambivalence of the emotions churning through her, she was unable or perhaps unwilling to help herself when she leaned into John, tucking her head into the curve created by his neck and shoulder. She inhaled a great lungful of his soapy, masculine scent and after pulling even that small part of him inside herself, she felt less troubled. In that moment, it was almost as if John Cena became the antidote to everything that had ever been wrong in her life.

But how could that be? She wondered even as she settled back against the arm he'd wrapped around her waist. John himself was a part of that wrongness. Wasn't he? His rejection of her when they were teenagers had been the beginning of the downturn her life had taken. Nothing had gone right after that night. Nothing. Not that she blamed John for what had happened to her during her marriage, Milly accepted fully responsibility for that. But something about that night at the prom had generated something inside her, something that had steered her down a path of one bad mistake after another.

Or perhaps, she conceded, what had happened that night had only triggered something inside her that had been there all along. Either way, that night with John had been a majoring turning point in her life. And what had followed, without him, had been no life at all.

Now, thought, somehow, with John, things felt right again. She'd done everything she could do to keep her distance from him on this trip, mentally, emotionally and physically. She hadn't wanted to risk putting herself in another position where he might push her or pull himself away again. But now for some reason, all she wanted was to have him close.

"Were you having a nightmare?" He asked scattering her ruminations

She shook her head, trying not to notice how warm and fragrant was his skin, how strong and vital was the arm circled loosely around her waist, how velvety and soothing was the voice that murmured so close to her ear. Tenderness. That was what John was showing her. And it had been a long, long time since anyone had treated Milly tenderly.

"No. I was actually having a very nice dream. I was dreaming about—"She halted abruptly when she recalled that she had been dreaming about him.

"About what?" He asked.

"About Santa Barbara."

"Then it was a good dream?"

"Yes. It was."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not about the dream no."

"But you do want to talk about something?"

Overhead, thunder rumbled maliciously again and then as if on cue, the light beside the bed flickered once, twice, three times then went out completely. In the darkness, unconsciously, Milly crowded her body closer to John's.

And then very quietly, she said. "Yes, I want to talk."

But instead of launching into conversation, she couldn't remember exactly what it was she wanted to say. She only knew she didn't want John to leave. Not yet. Not while there was storms. She hated storms.

John didn't seem to be bothered by her conflicting signals, first telling him she wanted to talk, then speaking not a word. Instead he only sat beside her, letting her curl her body into his. He made no demands, asked no questions, and required nothing of her except that she take whatever she needed from him. Milly sighed softly and closed her eyes and for the smallest of moments, she could almost convince herself that everything was going to be all right.

"Are you okay?"

"I hate storms. They've always scared me to death."

"You? I didn't think you were afraid of anything when we were kids." He said. "Nothing ever seemed to scare you. I was in a complete awe of your self confidence and your strength. There was nobody in Woodhaven who even came close to you."

"Oh John." She said. "Everything scared me back then. Couldn't you tell? And if nobody came close it was because I didn't want anybody to get close. I didn't want anyone to see what a phony I was."

Of course, that wasn't entirely true, she knew. There was one person she had always wished would come closer. But the only times he had, well somehow, she'd repelled him right back again, hadn't she?

"That's why I acted the way I did back then. I was bluffing. I bluffed my way through my entire teenage life and I kept on bluffing after high school was over."

"You were a good bluffer than. I sure never suspected."

"I kept thinking." She continued. "That maybe if I pretended to be strong and brave, then eventually I would be strong and brave. I kept hoping that nobody would ever see me for who and what I really was. There were some days though when I hoped that maybe eventually somebody would."

She squeezed her eyes shut tight against the tears that threatened. "And you know, as luck would have it, eventually someone did come along who saw me for who and what I really was." She halted abruptly, unwilling to say any more.

John evidently didn't share her reluctance. "That someone was Dave, wasn't it?"

She nodded. "What did he do to you, Milly?"

"It wasn't what he did to me. It was what I let him do."

"I don't understand."

"I first met Dave when I was sophomore in college. He taught a survey course in European literature that I took. I sort of developed a crush on him in that class. Even thought he was older than me."

John said nothing, but she felt the arm around her waist tighten a bit. The touch was reassuring though. And it helped her say the rest.

"Dave was very attractive. And very smart and very charming. He just seemed so so nice. And I could tell he liked me too. We didn't actually start dating until the last part of my senior year. I asked him to be my advisor on my independent study paper and we ended up working fairly closely together. One afternoon in his office, one thing led to another and he kissed me. After that we started dating and then later."

John's voice belied nothing of what he was thinking. "Later?"

"It probably started even before we got married." She began again. "While he was directing my Master's thesis. Dave would correct my opinion and redraw my conclusions for me in my paper and I naturally deferred to him because he was my instructor and I thought he knew more about the material than I did. Looking back, though, I think my opinions and conclusions were perfectly good ones. But every time Dave told me I'd done something wrong. I took him at his word and revised my work to his specifications."

"After we married." She continued. "It wasn't just my academic work Dave took exception to. He thought I should dress differently now that I was the wife of a professor, ditch the batik skirts and tank top in favor of less extravagant colors and more conservative styles. And he thought my language was inappropriate for my new position as his wife, it was too slangy and I swore a time or two. Basically, he thought it was time I acted like a grown up, his idea of a grown up at any rate. So I started dressing and speaking and acting the way he told me to dress and speak and act."

"Sounds like he was no fun at all." John said softly. "Sounds like you should have ditched the jerk at the get go."

She sighed wearily. "You have to understand, John, all this stuff didn't just happen overnight. From the time I got involved with him until the time I left him, nearly eleven years passed. His wearing me down was so gradual. And he wasn't a bully about it. Not at first, anyway. He was always very pleasant when he told he was I ugly. And he was always very polite when he told me I was stupid."

John was silent for a moment. "So when did he become a bully?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said he wasn't a bully about it 'at first'" John pointed out.

The realization that she had indeed said that surprised Milly. Although Dave had certainly been a bully, she had never consciously labeled him as one before now, not even in her thoughts. A bit bemused by her sudden insight, she could only stammer. "I, um, I'm not, I mean I don't."

"You said he hit you once. When did that happen?"

Milly swallowed with some difficulty when she recalled the episode. "The last night we were together." She said. "By then, I was practically a Stepford Wife, doing everything Dave told me to do, behaving exactly as he wanted me to behave always putting his needs and his desires before my own. By that point, I don't think I even had any needs or desires anymore. But that last night."

"What?" John asked. "What happened that night?"

"We were supposed to have dinner guests, the head of the English department and her husband. And I wasn't feeling very good. I just, I was tired." She said. "I was so, so tired. And when Dave came home, I asked him if we could postpone the dinner, because I just didn't think I could do it that night. And he started in telling me how useless I was, because I'd never been able to do once of those dinners right. And he told me if I messed it up, I'd just look like the idiot that I was. And on and on." She inhaled deeply and then released it slowly. "And then I did the most unforgivable thing I could possibly do."

"And what was that?"

"I took exception." She said softly. "I told Dave I wasn't an idiot and I wasn't useless. And then he. For a minute, he only looked at me as if he couldn't believe I'd just contradicted him. And then, then he doubled his fist and he, he hit me. Hard enough to knock me down."

"Oh Milly."

"He meant for it to put me in my place." She interrupted quietly with a calmness that surprised her. "But instead of putting me in my place. Ironically, it made everything come completely clear to me. What kind of man Dave really was. What he had done to me. What I had allowed him to turn me into. I can't explain how or why it happened. Maybe it will never make sense to anyone who hasn't been through something like that. But day by dad, he chipped away at my self-esteem until I really believed he was just trying to help me improve myself."

John said nothing for a moment, as if he was trying to digest all this information about her life. "You're right. I don't understand it Milly. But maybe it's not important I do, you know?"

She crumpled a little bit inside at his words." But I need for you to understand it." She told him. "It's really important to me that you understand, John."

"But why?"

"Because I was hoping you could explain it to me."

"Oh Milly." He said again.

But there wasn't so much pity in his voice when he said it, she noticed, there was something else. Something much warmer and much fiercer, something much more intense and much more resolute. The last thing Milly expected John to do was kiss her, but the first thing she felt after voicing her confession, her confusion, was the press of his mouth against hers. It was a gentle kiss, an innocent kiss, a kiss of reassurance between friends. As was the second kiss. And the third. And even to some extent the fourth. Eventually though, the kisses became less innocent, less reassuring. Gradually, they built into something that was more demanding, more needful.

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	24. Chapter 24

Without even thinking about what she was doing, Milly lifted her hands to curl her fingers in his hair, then tilted her head to the other side to facilitate their mutual exploration. And when she did, it was so sweet. He was so sweet. She'd never really thought to use such an adjective in relation to John Cena, but suddenly the word fit him perfectly. He was sweet. Sweet to taste, sweet to touch, sweet to smell, sweet to hold. So what else could she do but taste him again? And again and again.

She wasn't sure how long they sat there that way, mouths joined, fingertips grazing each other's faces, fingers skimming through each other's hair. But for the longest time, that was all they did. It was almost as if they were rediscovering long-forgotten ground, giving themselves time to become reacquainted. But how could that be, she wondered vaguely, when they'd never really known each other to begin with?

And then she understood. They were moving slow now because they were getting to know each other. Something about that reassured her, heartened her, made her feel bolder. So she pushed her body forward, closer to his, and parted her lips to allow him inside.

Immediately, he responded filling her mouth with his tongue, roping one arm around her waist to press her body flush against his own, tangling the fingers of the other hand more earnestly in her hair. Heat exploded in her belly at the urgency of his actions, at the sheer possessiveness in his embrace. He wanted her, there could be no doubt. And heaven help her, she wanted him too.

The warmth of his bare chest seeped through the thin silk of her pajama top, generating an answering heat inside her. The denim of his jeans scraped along the skin of her thighs, creating a delicious friction that roused yet another incendiary response. Milly found herself trying to get closer to him, wanting, needing, to feel his weight and the press of his body on hers. She tipped herself backward, until the cool sheets of the bed pillowed her descent and John, warm, hard John covered her.

He wasted no time after that. He wedged one leg between both of hers, bending his knee so that his thigh was pressed deliberately against that most intimate, most sensitive part of her. The shock wave that shuddered through Milly at the contact nearly tore her apart. What reeled her back in was the light skim of his fingertips over her rib cage, strumming up and down along her bare skin, igniting a string of little fires along the way. She opened her hands over his naked back, reveling in the dance of muscles and sinew she encountered beneath her fingertips. He was heat and satin and tempered steel, strength and power and finesse. And he was hers. If she wanted him. And Milly discovered, not much to her surprise, that she wanted him very much indeed.

He murmured her name as he dragged damp, open mouthed kisses along the slender column of her throat, then moved his hand from her ribs to the neckline of her pajama top. Deftly, hastily, he flicked open the uppermost button, then nosed aside the fabric to trace her collarbone with the tip of tongue. One by one, the rest of the buttons followed, and as he dispatched each, his oral exploration expanded. Milly went limp when he cupped a hand beneath one of her breasts and pushed it upward, into his waiting mouth. And she arched a hand over her head liked a drunken ballerina when he sucked her deep inside.

With his free hand, he palmed the sensitive peak of her other breast, then captured her nipple and rolled the swollen bud gently between thumb and forefinger. In spite of the darkness, she closed her eyes so that she might experience more purely the intoxicating rush of desire that surged through her. She scooted her hand on his back down some to the waistband of his jeans and beyond. Dipping her fingers beneath the heavy fabric, she cupped what she could of his taut butt and pushed him against her. He thrust his entire body forward and she felt the heavy ripeness of him against her thigh.

Oh John.

She didn't realize she had spoken his name aloud, but she must have, because he lifted himself from her damp breast, braced himself on his elbows and gazed down into her face. She couldn't discern his expression in the darkness but she could hear the ragged rhythm of his breathing, could feel the heat of his body hovering over hers, could sense the tension coiled tightly within him.

He lowered himself down to her again, angling his body against hers. He curved one arm over her head and the with his other, nudged aside the fabric of her pajama top. Then he flattened a hand over her torso and steered his fingers skillfully to the waistband of her boxes.

Milly responded in kind, moving her hand to the buttons of his jeans, pushing each through its fastening one by one. When she tucked her hand inside, she felt his hard member pushing against the fabric of his briefs, proud and demanding. As he buried his fingers inside her, Milly gasped and opened her legs wider, than dexterously dipped her own hand beneath his briefs. He was hot and unyielding in her palm, bigger than she would have guessed.

She must have murmured something incoherent at the realization, John pushed his fingers lower, deeper, plowing her tender flesh, penetrating her with one long middle finger. His breathing was almost harsh now, fraying as if he was having trouble maintaining control. She rolled her hand over his member and felt the steamy heat of his response film her skin. All they had to do, she thought, was shed what little clothing they wore then they could join in the most basic, most primal way that a man and woman could join.

"Milly." He said his voice uneven and uncertain.

Something in his tone when he said her name whipped her back through time sixteen years to the backseat of a car, where they had been engaged in an activity very much like this one. Milly knew what that tone of voice meant. John was about to pull away from her again. Somehow she knew it. So quickly, before he had the chance to retreat, she rolled away from him and scrambled to the opposite side of the bed. She leapt up, turned her back, and rearranged her clothes. Even in the darkness, she sense how much her action surprised John. Perhaps as much as it surprised her. But there was no way she was going to let him get her worked up and then leave her again. She wasn't sure she could stand it if he did.

So very softly she told him, "This time I'm the one who puts a stop to it John. This time I'm the one who walks away."

For a moment, only taut silence was her reply. Then she heard him exhale. "Okay, I guess I deserved that."

"I'm not doing it because it's what you deserve." She told him.

She heard him shift on the bed, the mattress squeaking under his weight. When she turned back around she could discern just enough of him in the darkness to know that he nodded.

"My father hired you to get me safely to my reunion." She reminded him. "Not to, not to. Not for this."

"Your father hired me to show you a good time. As well as keep you out of danger."

Well you're not doing your job on either count." She told him. But she knew neither one of them really believed that.

John, however, was decent enough not to call her on the lie. Instead, he rose from the bed and slowly made his way back toward the connecting doors. He hesitated before returning to his room, however, and spun back around to face her. And even though the darkness and common sense forbade such a thing, she thought he could see right through her.

"I'll get you to the reunion, Milly." He vowed before he left. "I promise you that, if nothing else. I will get us where we need to be."

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	25. Chapter 25

On Thursday morning, as Mike sipped his orange juice, read the Enquirer, and entertained his daily erotic fantasy about Mae, she was straddling him on the sofa this time, her plump breast filling his mouth, his fingers creasing the firm globes of her bottom she moved up and down on atop him, he remembered suddenly that it was his turn to run an errand today.

"I need to run by my apartment for a few minutes." He announced.

"Whereabouts do you live?"

"Here in the city." He told her. "Not far from the hotel, as matter of fact."

"The night we arrived, you said you had to concentrate on your driving because you weren't familiar with this area."

She arched her delicate eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, there's a shocker."

"You know a lot about men lying to woman?"

"I know enough." She said.

"Look, after the last several days, I'm inclined to agree with you that your father is just paranoid and that there's no threat to you or your sister here in town. But I'm still reluctant to leave you along, if for no other reason than I promised your father I wouldn't. I mean, its one thing for me to run next door to the gym while you're still asleep, but I'm not comfortable leaving you here alone on the hotel premises entirely. Do you mind coming with me to my place? As I said, I won't be long."

Instead of answering his questions, she backpedaled to the first part of his statement. "You agree with me that Daddy was wrong about there being any danger here?'

He nodded. "I haven't sensed any threat to you at all since we got here. No one's tried to contact you, and I haven't noticed anyone suspicious hanging around. When I've spoken to your father on the phone this week, he says he's heard nothing more from whoever threatened you to begin with. Does JR have a history of." He paused. "How can I put this?"

"Mental Illness?" Mae supplied helpfully. "Delusions? Paranoid schizophrenia? Feeling of being persecuted? Voices in his head? That kind of thing?"

Mike bit the inside of his jaw. "Um, yeah. That, delicately would be what I meant it."

She chuckled wryly. "My father's not the most level-headed man in the world. But he's not mentally ill, either. Yes, he has some odd ideas and yes, he's a little paranoid but, I'm not worried about anyone hurting me or Milly, either, Mike. But if it would make you feel better, I'll stay close to you today."

Oh, he really liked the sound of that. Not just the way she called him Mike, now and the way his name rolled so naturally off her tongue, but the way she said she'd stay with him.

"Thanks." He said. "I'll make it brief."

"What do you have to do?" She asked.

"I have to water my plants."

Mae had never known a man to voluntarily keep plants. Nor had she ever known a man to be as tidy as she discovered Mike Mizanin was upon entering his home. Then again, she hadn't really been privy to any man's private life, had she?

"You have a nice place." She said.

"You sound surprised." He replied.

She shook her head. "No, I just didn't know what to expect."

"Because you don't think about me at all."

She didn't answer him. She just looked around the apartment. She picked up one photo in particular and turned to Mike. "Is this you?"

"Yeah, that's me." He replied noticing what she was looking at.

"The boy in the middle?" She asked. "The, um, the, uh, the ah."

"The fat kid." Mike finished for her without looking back. "Yeah, that was me. That was who I was the whole time I was growing up, the fat kid. The fat kid with a stutter, in fact. The fat kid with a stutter named Mike, who inspired laughter and merriment in many people. After I graduated from high school, I decided I was tired of being the fat kid with a stutter. I started eating better, started working out, read more, that kind of thing. Conquered the stutter with the help of a good doctor and continuous deep mediation."

"What kind of weird years were in between?"

"It took me a couple of years to lose the weight and tone up. But once I did, a very strange thing happened to me."

"What?"

"Women began to notice me."

Mae couldn't quite halt the chuckle that escaped her at his remark, so surprised did he sound by the realization. Of course women would notice him when he looked the way he did. In word, duh. A lot of them would probably betray their country or at the very least, give up chocolate for a month, just to have a meaningful or better yet, a not so meaningful, conversation with him.

"What's so funny?" He asked turning around.

"You." She said. "You standing there sounding so surprised that women would notice you."

"Why shouldn't that surprise me?" He asked.

Oops, Mae thought. She'd sort of dug herself in on that one, hadn't she? Now he was going to know that she herself thought he was attractive. "Well, it shouldn't be surprising, that's all." She walked to another picture. "So then I take it your childhood wasn't especially wonderful." She said changing the subject.

"No, it wasn't. My adolescence was even worse."

"Teenagers can be vicious."

"Yes, they can. But in hindsight, I'm grateful for the experiences I had in high school."

"Really why?" She asked surprised.

"When you're one of the social outcasts in high school, you see things others don't. It's a trait that stays with you, when you become an adult. Comes in handy in my line of work."

"What do you mean?"

He studied her thoughtfully for a moment more. "Like from the minute you laid eyes on Chris Irvine, when we were sitting in the car outside of his house that first night, I knew there was more going on with you and him then you were letting on."

"Oh."

He nodded. "And when we saw him at the restaurant that day, I could sense then that you wanted to find him for reasons other than the ones you'd described."

"I, um, I don't know what you mean."

"I'm not sure I do either." He said thoughtfully. "I just know that whatever reason you came back here for Chris, it isn't because you want to start a romance with him. Not a healthy kind of romance anyway."

"No, that's not the reason I came back for him."

"And I sense something in Chris." Mike continued. "That's kind of.."

"Off." She supplied helpfully.

He shook his head. "Evil."

"Ah. Well, I see that you really do have an insight into people that others lack."

"You want to talk it."

"Not here." She replied.

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	26. Chapter 26

Mike and Mae headed back to the hotel and ordered room service. He poured them each a glass of wine and sat down across from her. He watched as she moved the food around on her plate.

"Milly always jokes that I'm the good twin and she's the evil twin." She said by way of a beginning. "But the fact is, I've always been more like the invisible twin. At least in high school."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "Milly had enough spirit and passion and presence for two people, so I always kind of faded into the background. Not that I minded." She added honestly. "I actually liked being invisible. I liked it that I didn't have to act a certain way because that was what people expected of me. I liked sitting on the sidelines and watching everyone else."

"I wish I'd been invisible in high school."

She smiled. "I would have seen you."

He smiled back. "I wouldn't have minded if you saw me. But we were talking about you."

"I didn't have a date to the prom." She told him, jumping track again.

He seemed surprised. "No one asked you?"

"Robby Duggins did."

"But he was a geek?"

"Actually, he was a very nice boy. Cute too."

"So why didn't you go with him?"

"Because I was saying myself for someone else."

"Chris Irvine." She nodded.

"But I thought he had a girlfriend from way back when."

"He did."

"Didn't you assume he would take her?"

"Oh, I knew he would take her." She readily admitted.

"Then why?"

"I had plans for Chris." She said. "Even back then. A plan for prom night in particular. I planned to seduce Chris Irvine on prom night because I wanted to give him my virginity before we both went off to college. Even though I knew he and his girlfriend were planning to get married, I just. I convinced myself when I was ninth grade that Chris was my one and only, that somebody he and I would be together somehow. And I wanted my first time to be with him."

Mike said nothing in response to that, only eyed her silently, his expression so intent she could almost see the thoughts circling his brain. She just couldn't quite discern what those thoughts were about.

"I volunteered to be in charge of the punch table." She began again. "I figured that, at some point, Chris would come up to the punch table and I could ask him if I could talk to him privately and then we could step outside where I could tell him what I wanted. To go someplace where the two of us could be alone, so we could make love, and he could be my first. And then, I thought, we could go do just that."

"And how did the plan go?"

Mae inhaled another deep breath and released it slowly. "It went perfectly. At first. Chris did come to the punch table, and he did accompany me outside, and I did tell him that I wanted him to be my first. That part went just fine."

"So what went wrong?" Mike asked softly.

Mae swallowed hard. "It was the um, the making love part. We, uh, we didn't share the same vision for that."

"What happened?"

Mike's voice was even softer now, but somehow also edgier than it had been. He knew what was coming next, she thought. He knew Chris better than she had.

"I would have made love with him that night, Mike." She said. "I would have. I wanted to. And I was ready. I wanted to lose my virginity that night and I wanted to give it to Chris. But not the way he took it from me. I didn't want it like that."

Mike studied her for a moment then very quietly said. "He raped you. Is that what you're trying to say?"

She nodded and moved her gaze to the floor. "It started off okay. When I kissed him that first time, he was obviously surprised but he returned the kiss right away. Very tenderly too, initially. But then he turned ugly. He turned into a total stranger. The Chris Irvine I'd always known was a nice guy. But that night.."

"That night, he showed his true colors." Mike guessed.

She nodded again. "After I kissed him that first time, he smiled at me and for a minute, I honestly thought he was going to tell me he'd always had a crush on me, the way I'd had on him. For a minute, I was so happy, like this dream I'd had for four years was about to come true and he'd tell me he loved me, that he'd never loved anyone but me and that he'd break up with his girlfriend and start dating me. Then he leaned forward and kissed me again. But it turned very quickly from gentle into something else. Something hungry and demanding and mean."

"Mae, you don't have to tell me this if you don't want—"

"I do want to. I think it's important that you know this about me, Mike. I don't know why." She took a deep breath. "It's why I don't. It's why I don't wear underwear. I know you've been curious about that."

Mike stammered. "Well, I, uh, I ah.."

"I've seen the way you look at me, Mike." She interjected. "I know you've noticed. And I know you've wondered why. That night that Chris.. We went out to the parking garage to his car. I thought we could just talk out there and then make up some excuse to leave the prom separately and meet up again someplace else. A hotel or something, I really didn't think that far ahead. But once we were in his car and I told him what I wanted and then kissed him. Well, after that, Chris didn't want to wait. I guess he figured I was fair game. I guess he figured I got what was coming to me."

Her voice trailed off because she really didn't want to go into any great detail about what happened. "I tried to fight him." She said. "Tried to tell him that wasn't how I meant for it to be. But he was way bigger than me and I guess he didn't listen or he just didn't care and that was how I wanted it. He, at one point, he just tore off my underwear. So hard that the elastic in my panties burned my leg and the hooks in my bra cut my back. I haven't been able to stand the feel of underwear against my skin since then."

"How did you get home that night?" He asked. He was enraged by what happened to her.

"Chris drove me home afterward."

Mike arched one brow in disbelief. "He what?"

"He drove me home." She repeated. "Just like we'd been on a date or something. He drove me right to my house, leaned over me and pushed the door open, then kissed me goodnight. As I got out, he told me he'd call me. He said his father kept a boathouse on the river that was nice and secluded, and that next time, we could meet there for our fun. Then he drove away. I snuck in the back door and I took a shower and I went to bed and I tried to pretend that nothing had happened. Later that night, Chris came back to the house only this time he was bringing Milly home. And he was a hero then."

"Oh Mae."

"I never told anyone what happened. She said concluding her story. "Not even Milly. Not until now, Mike. Not until you. I was too scared, too ashamed."

"You had nothing to be ashamed of, Mae." He said adamantly. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"A lot of people would have said I had it coming."

"Yeah, well a lot of people are asses."

"I did come back to the reunion to find Chris, but not for the reason everyone thinks. Milly's so sure I've been carrying a torch for him all these years. She thinks I want to marry him. And Daddy has no idea what happened on prom night."

"If he did."

"He'd kill Chris." She finished calmly.

"Yeah, well at this point, he'd have to get in line."

She hesitated only a moment before saying. "So will you."

Well that certainly got his attention. "You don't' mean to tell me you came back here to—"

"Kill Chris?" She asked calmly.

Mike nodded not so calmly.

"As much as I've fantasized about such a thing over the last sixteen years, no." She said. "That's not why I came back. But I did come back for Chris. I did come back for him."

"But how.."

Mike let the question linger unfinished, either because he wasn't sure how to phrase it or because he didn't want a response. In either event, Mae didn't answer him.

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	27. Chapter 27

"Good evening, St. Louis! If you're just turning in on your ride home from work, we've had a totally eighties Thursday here for you today. Next up, A Flock of Seagulls and their big hit, 'I Ran (So Far Away).'"

John switched off the radio thinking he should probably be doing exactly what the song suggested. Instead, he braved a glance at Milly, who was seated on the passenger side of the Expedition.

"Okay, so I never told you exactly whose reunion I would get you to, did I?"

"What?"

"Well, did?" He demanded. "No, I did not. I distinctly remember saying 'I'll get you to the reunion'. Not 'your' reunion. Not 'our' reunion. Just 'the reunion' what does that sign up there say?"

"I'll grant you that that sign up there does indeed say Welcome Class of '95."

"Which is total serendipity if you ask me."

"Class of '95. Doheny High School. Not Woodhaven High School. Color me curious, John, but I don't think we know anyone who attended Doheny High School in St. Louis, Missouri."

"No, we don't but I bet the kids at Doheny High School had experiences that were pretty similar to ours at Woodhaven."

"You think so?"

"You bet."

She eyed him thoughtfully. "So you figure that, right now, somewhere in that Holiday Inn, there's a woman who's seething mad at one of her male classmates."

He nodded. "Oh, hey, you can count on it."

"Do you think she'd ready to kill him?"

"I believe she might be."

"Do you think she'll succeed before the night is through?"

This time John shook his head. "Nah. Not as long as he doesn't turn his back on her."

"If I were him, I wouldn't be so confident."

"If you were him, I wouldn't have gotten into that car with you on prom night. I mean, I'm an open-minded guy, Milly but that's not my thang."

"I want to go home, John. Now. I want to be in Ohio, where I'm supposed to be. I want to see my old neighborhood, I want to see my sister and I want to see my former classmates." She lifted her gaze to him. "And I need a break from you."

In spite of the knife edge he felt twisting in his gut in response to the last part of her statement, John tried to make light of her comment. "Oh now, you know that's not entirely true, Milly. There are plenty of people from high school I bet you'd just as soon not see again."

Her shoulders rose and fell with her silent sigh. "I want to go home, John."

He softened at her tone. "I know you do, Milly. So do I for that matter. But we're not going to get there today. We have to spend the night somewhere. Might as well be here."

"But-"

"We're so close. A day's drive, no more. I'll get you where you want and need to be, I promise you."

"You also promise me you'd get me to our reunion."

"The reunion." He corrected her. "I never specified exactly whose."

"Tomorrow. You will get us to Cincinnati by dinnertime tomorrow."

"No worries, Milly." He assured her. "Like I said. I'll get us where we need to be."

"Dinnertime tomorrow. I mean it, John. If this car isn't tooling down I-64 East bright and early tomorrow morning, then I'm striking out on my own."

He smiled because he knew she meant it. He remembered again the way she had pushed herself away from him the night before, the way she had asserted that she would be the one who to walk away this time. He wondered what made her put the brakes on things, just when they were about to-

Well, just when they were about to. Because he had been more than ready to himself. He smiled again when he recalled just how ready. Oh, yeah. Mr. Happy had been very happy last night. In fact, John didn't think he could recall Mr. Happy ever being quite as happy as he had been the night before. Hell he'd been happier than Mr. Happy. And Mr. Happy had been pretty damned happy.

He still had idea why everything had functioned fully last night, oh boy had it been full, when it had failed to perform before. One of life's great mysteries, he supposed. Or perhaps one of testosterone's great mysteries. Maybe sixteen years earlier, he'd just been too intimidated by Milly, her confidence, by her passion, by her strength, to be able to perform. And maybe he'd just been too scared of the intensity of their responses to each other. Maybe that had been the problem the other night, he'd been too anxious and uncertain about so many things.

But last night, he'd seen Milly more vulnerable than he'd ever seen her before. And he'd understood, for the first time, that back in high school, she'd been just as scared of and unsure about things as he had been. And he'd realized that these days too, she was just as anxious and uncertain about things as he was. Last night, he'd seen Milly for what she really was. She was a woman, a human being. With hopes and dreams, and frailties and fears, and hurts and setbacks, just like his. And that had suddenly made everything all right. Until she pulled away.

John still wasn't sure what had made her do that, but she'd no doubt had her reasons. She'd made it clear that she'd hadn't done it because he deserved it but she'd made it equally clear that maybe it was because she had. She'd taken the initiative in the situation, regardless of her motives. She'd done what she wanted, what she needed to do.

She was getting closer, he thought. Maybe not to the Milly she'd been sixteen years ago but to the Milly she'd always had the potential to be. Little by little, she was starting to recapture the essence of the girl she once was, the girl who might very well have eventually grown into a strong, sassy, confident woman, had fate not intervened in the form of Dave Batista and prevented it.

She was almost there, he thought. And he couldn't help wondering what it was going to take for her to make it all the way home.

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	28. Chapter 28

"Oh come on, Milly. It'll be fun."

John gazed expectantly at his companion as he awaited for her reply but she didn't really look like she wanted to reply. And truth be told, she'd hardly spoken word to him since they'd arrived in their respective rooms.

"Let me get this straight." She said suddenly. "You want to go downstairs and crash the reunion for Doheny High School Class of '95."

He nodded eagerly, then reiterated, "It'll be fun."

"They'll throw us out."

"No they won't. Nobody recognizes anybody at these things. We'll just go down there and snag a couple of leftover name tags and walked right in."

"What if the owners of those name tags show up and take exception to the imposters?"

"Not a problem. I did some checking. This reunion has been going all week. It started on Sunday. Anybody who planning to come would already be here. All the name tags that are left belong to the no-shows."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "And how would you know there are any name tags left?"

He smiled and reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew two of the tags in question. "Like I said, I did some checking."

"Oh John."

"There was a table outside the banquet room down there that must have had twenty or thirty of these." He thrust one toward her. "You're Bitsy Stuckey."

Milly rolled her eyes. "Oh great. What kind of a name is Bitsy Stuckey? It's way too perky."

John smiled proudly as he held up his own name tag. "And I'm Stanley Morgenstern. He sounds like the head of the chess club."

Milly tried to hand her name tag back to John. "We cannot do this. At worst, it violates some kind of law and we'll wind up in jail. At best, it's a grave social faux pas and we'll wind up peeling potatoes in Martha Stewart's kitchen."

"Come on, Milly. What else are we going to do tonight, huh?" John said to her. "It'll be a good time, Milly. You told me I haven't shown you one of those yet. Give me a chance."

"Why? So you can collect you paycheck?" She asked.

"No, Milly, not because of that."

'Then why?"

"So, I can see you smile."

"Oh." She blushed. "Bitsy Stuckey. She sounds like she was a nice girl in high school."

"You were a nice girl too, Milly." John assured her.

"Just give me a minute to change my clothes."

"No problem." He told her.

Milly couldn't imagine what had possessed her to let John talk her into crashing someone else's reunion. But she had changed into a sapphire colored off shoulder cocktail dress. Now as she stood in the cavernous banquet room of the Holiday Inn, waiting for John to return with her champagne cocktail wearing a name tag that identified her as Bitsy Stuckey. Milly smiled. It was nice to be someone else for a change.

"Bitsy! Bitsy Stuckey! I was hoping you'd show up!"

Milly was startled to discover that it wasn't John who had offered the exclamation but a total stranger. "Why, hello here, um.." She squinted at his name tag but before she had a hacne to read it he cover it up.

"Guess who?"

She smiled as becomingly as she could. "Come on. Give me a hint."

"You want a hint baby?" He said asked. "I'll you a hint. Homecoming. Sophomore year. The backseat of Ryan Moore's mustang. You gave me a lube a job it took me three days to get over."

Oh dear, Milly thought. Maybe Bitsy Stuckey hadn't been such a nice girl in high school.

"Funny, though." He added. "I remember you being a redhead."

Before she could comment, another man approached. "Did I hear somebody say Bitsy Stuckey?"

Milly was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

"Why Bitsy, you looked incredible." The newcomer said to her. "Guess who I am?"

Milly knew better than to ask for a hint this time.

"Let me give you a hint." He said. "Junior prom. Under the bleachers behind the football field. You showed me and Donny Coogan a defensive position we'd never used on the field before. Hey, did those grass stains ever come out of your dress?"

Oh, my Milly thought. Bitsy really got around.

"Why, Bitsy." Yet another member of the Doheny High School Class of '95 said upon approach. This time, however, the newcomer was a woman, much to Milly's relief. Then again, she thought, the woman was probably the angry wife of someone for whom Bitsy had performed a great feat of derring-do. Bitsy was probably about to receive the verbal thrashing of a lifetime.

But the woman only smiled. "Remember me? I'll give you hint. Sandy Stewart's slumber party the summer of ninety-four. You gave me a whole new definition for the word manicure."

Oh yeah. Bitsy definitely got around, Milly thought. She quickly reevaluated her assessment of the Bitsy Stuckey of today.

"Um, if you'll excuse me." Milly said suddenly. "I really need to go find my date."

"Oh don't rush off." The lube job complained.

"You just got here." The defensive position protested.

"We can talk about old times." The manicure pleaded.

"No, really. I have to look for Stanley."

At the mention of that last word, each one of her companions' faces went white. "Stanley?" The lube job echoed.

"Morgenstern?" The defensive position cried.

"Stanley Morgenstern?" The manicure exclaimed.

Milly nodded. "Yes."

The lube job shook his head slowly in disbelief. "I can't believe that sonofabitch would show his face here."

"Not after all the things he did." The defensive position concurred.

"Imagine the nerve." The manicure said.

Yep, Milly was definitely getting a bad feeling about this. "Oh look, I think I see him over there."

She made her way away from the group. She found John a few minutes later standing near the bar, holding her champagne cocktail in one hand, a beer in the other, and a trio of me at bay. She approached cautiously.

"Look, guys, there's been a misunderstanding. She heard John say as she drew nearer. "If I, you know, beat the hell out of you on a regular basis sixteen years ago, I apologize most sincerely. I'm a reformed man now, I'm telling ya. A man of the cloth. Yeah, that's it. Father Stanley that's me."

"Father Stanley?" One of the men said. "Gee that's interesting because I remember going to your bar mitzvah. My mother made me."

"Ah yeah" John said. "Funny story."

"Stanley." Milly called out cheerily. "My goodness, I've been looking all over for you. I didn't realize you'd run into some of your old friends."

"Uh yeah." John said looking relieved to see her. "Guys, you remember Bitsy Stuckey."

"Bitsy!" The first man said. "Last time I saw you was at Tony Carmichael's wedding. Yeah that was a real religious experience I had with you in the confessional."

Oh did Bitsy have no shame? Milly wondered. She waited for the two other men to relieve their past with Bitsy. The first had apparently opened her sluice gate near the banks of Mississippi and the second had evidently gotten some hot monkey lovin at the St. Louis Zoo. She then looped her arm through John's.

"Yes, well, I do so love to reminisce" She said. "But Stanley and I are an item now. We're very happy together."

"You and Father Stanley?" The first man asked skeptically.

Oops, Milly had forgotten about that.

The second man jabbed the first in the ribs. "Guess you're not the only one who has fond memories of that confessional"

"Yeah no wonder Stanley converted." The third man agreed.

The three men shared a few guffaws at their crass, not that Milly hadn't set herself and John up for them, she had to admit, then quickly sobered.

"You better watch your ass for the rest of the week Father Stanley. We're not in high school anymore."

Oh no one had ever pegged the situation more than that, Milly thought. She sighed heavily. It was going to be a long night.

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	29. Chapter 29

Oh, man, what a long night. John expelled an exhausted, exasperated breath as he fell backward onto his bed. All he wanted right now was a long, hot shower and a pair of clean, cool sheets to lie between.

"John."

For a moment, he thought he'd only imagined the soft sound of his name, but when he lifted his head, he saw Milly farmed by the doorway that connected his room to hers. She was still wearing that heart-stopping dress. It had the same effect on him now that it had when he'd first gotten a glimpse of her wearing it.

Heat and lots of it. And it all pooled in that very special place where he'd been so relieved and triumphant to feel it collecting last night. Just looking at Milly in that dress made him go hard. Really hard and oh, man did that feel good. What would feel even better would be.. Never mind, best not to think about such things.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Can I ask you a question?" She said.

"Sure." He told her.

"Being down at that reunion tonight made me think."

"Made you think about what?" He asked.

"Just that, all this time, I've been thinking about how much has changed over the years. How much I've changed over the years."

"Yeah?" John replied. "Well, it happens to the best of us, Milly. You can't stop change from coming."

"But in a way you can." She said. "Don't you see? To those people down there, Bitsy Stuckey and Stanley Morgenstern are always going to be the way they were in high school. "

"So what's your point?"

"I'm not sure." She said. "Just that maybe as much as we think we change, there's a part of us that other people at least, will keep with them forever. Good or bad."

John still wasn't sure where she was going with her observations. Nevertheless he responded. "I guess you're right."

"And that maybe because that part of us stays with someone else, even if we don't see it in ourselves anymore, it's still alive in us in a way."

John considered that for a moment then nodded, understanding a little better what she meant. Eve remained thoughtful for a moment more, then she fixed her gaze intently on John.

"And being down at that reunion tonight made me think about something else too." She said.

"And what might that be?" He asked.

"Prom night."

"What's the question you wanted to ask me?"

"She hesitated for a moment, as if she was having second thoughts. Finally, though, she asked. "Why did you leave me that night?"

Heat seared John's belly as she completed the question, even though he'd known full well it was coming. In fact, he was surprised she hadn't posed the question before. What had happened sixteen years ago had defined life for both of them to this point. Milly had felt lousy enough about herself after that night that she'd ended up in an unhappy relationship with a man who had treated for badly. And John had felt lousy enough about himself that he'd never been able to commit to any woman for more than a brief, superficial affaire. He'd never gotten over Milly Ross. And maybe, he thought, just maybe, she hadn't quite gotten over him either.

She deserved to know the truth about what had happened to him that night, he thought. Hell, she'd deserved to know sixteen years ago but she'd disappeared without a trace.

"Prom night. That was a long time ago."

"Seems like yesterday in a lot of ways." She said.

Yeah I guess it does."

"So, why did you leave me that night?"

"I didn't want to leave that night." He told her honestly. "I wanted to make to you. Man, what an understatement that is. I wanted you so much. So much. When I realized what was going to happen between us, when I knew you wanted it too. God, Milly, something just exploded in me that night. There was so much need, so much wanting, so much passion for you. I thought I would die from it."

"Then why…?"

"I think maybe because there was so much need, so much wanting, so much passion for you, that's why."

She shook her head slowly. "I don't understand."

"You scared the hell outta me when we were in high school. I was so crazy about you but I didn't know why. I wanted you so much but I didn't know why." He said. "I loved you Milly, so much. But I didn't know why. And that night, when I finally had the chance to show you just how much I wanted you, just how much I loved you. I guess I was just overwhelmed by you and my feelings for you, and my reaction to you. And I became totally intimidated by the thought of making love to you. And I couldn't do it."

"But why couldn't you?" She asked again."If you wanted me and if you felt the way you did, why didn't you make love to me? Why did you walk away?"

"When I say I couldn't do it, Milly." He said softly. "I mean just that. I couldn't do it. I physically could not do it. I couldn't get it… I wasn't about to… That night I was im.. impo.. impote.."

"Impotent?" She asked.

"Yeah that." He said surprised by his lack of embarrassment and humiliation. Because Milly wasn't laughing at him. "I was impotent that night. It was humiliating. I didn't understand it. I was ashamed. And I was afraid that if you found out, you'd laugh at me. And I just couldn't stand the thought of you thinking less of me. Of you thinking I was weak. Not when you were so strong."

"Oh John."

"I was a stupid kid, Milly. I panicked. I know that doesn't even come close to explaining or excusing what I did but there you have it. I was eighteen years old and I didn't know what to do. I'd never made love to anyone before that night. You would have been my first. And I was terrified by what happened or didn't happen. So I bolted. I guess I had it at the back of my mind that I could try and explain it later. But a week later you were gone and I had no idea where you were."

She said nothing, only continued to study him in silence and he wished like hell he could tell what she was thinking. While she was trying to figure it out, though he figured he had one more thing he had to explain.

"It happened that night in Santa Fe, too. In the pool." He told her. "As I was kissing you, even though I wanted you. Nothing happened. Below the waist, I mean up here." He added pointing to his head. "And here." He continued pointing now to his heart. "I was more than ready. But.. I don't know, maybe I just didn't give it enough time, maybe the water was too cold, maybe I still wasn't ready. But.. I panicked that night too. I tried to explain. At least, I think I did. But you wouldn't let me. Still it was my fault. And I'm sorry."

"But last night, you were…"

"Oh it didn't happen last night." He agreed quite happily. "Last night everything worked just fine."

"Then why were you going to stop?"

Her question surprised him. "Stop? I wasn't going to stop last night. I was all systems go. You were the one who stopped."

"But that was only because I thought you were about to.."

"I had no intention of stopping last night." He told her. "I was totally ready."

"But why last night and not before?"

"I don't know." He said honestly. "Like I said, maybe in Santa Fe the pool water was just too cold for me. And in Santa Fe, you still scared the hell outta of me."

"I? Scared you?" She asked.

"You're one hell of a strong woman, Milly. You may not think so but you are. Look what you went through with your prick husband but you didn't let it defeat you."

"Yes, I did let it defeat me. I stayed with him for years."

"No, you didn't let it." He insisted. "Because all those years, look where you are now."

"I've left him."

"Yep."

"And now I'm here."

"Yep."

"With you." He nodded again.

"Just like old times." She said softly.

"No. not like old times at all. This week with you, Milly, it's been much better than old times."

She studied him in silence for a several moments. "That night at the prom would have been your first time?"

"Yes. It would have."

"It would have been my first time too."

Somehow, he found the revelation in no way surprising.

"So, then you really did want me that night?" She asked again, even though John figured he'd more than answered that question.

"Yeah, Milly. I really did want you."

She nodded slowly. Do you think it would have lasted? You and me, I mean if we had gotten together that night?"

"Well, there was that small matter of your family disappearing a week later." John reminded her.

"I wouldn't have gone with Daddy and Mae if you and I had made love night. Or else I would have come back as soon as I could.

"You wouldn't have had to." John said. "I would have come after you, if you'd told me where you were."

"I'd have told you."

"Then I'd have come."

"So do you think we would have stayed together, if we'd made love that night?" She asked again. "Would we have started dating? Would we have lasted or would we eventually break up?"

"That's too many questions. And there's no way we'll ever know the answer to any of them. And maybe we shouldn't try to second-guess it all. It'd just make us crazy to sit around wondering what if?" This time he was the one to hesitated a moment before telling her, very softly. "But you know, Milly, we could still have a first time together. If you wanted to and in the morning, we could see where it takes us."

"John." She asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you another question?"

"Sure."

"Could you help me with my zipper? I was having trouble a little while ago getting it down."

And something about her tone when she said it made something inside John start humming like a finely strung wire."

"Would you mind giving me a hand?" She asked again.

Oh would he mind giving her a hand? He echoed to himself. And wasn't that just the question of the century? Hell she could have any body part she wanted, as far as he was concerned. But his voice was the picture of coolness when he replied. "Sure. Come on over here."

She pushed herself away from the doorframe and walked toward him, slowly, cautiously, as if she weren't quite certain of what she was about to do. Well, that made two of them, John thought. Cause he sure as hell didn't know how to act at the moment either.

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	30. Chapter 30

She came to a halt in front of him and pivoted slowly around to give him her back, it would be best if he let her lead. Probably, he thought further as he reached the zipper and tugged it downward, it would be best if he just took his cues from her. Probably, he thought further still as the supple blue fabric separated to reveal her bare back and the merest scraps of sapphire brassiere and panties, it would be best if he held himself in check until she gave him a clear signal of what she wanted.

Then he totally ignored each of those probably and leaned forward to press his open mouth to the silky flesh just above her bottom. He heard her gasp as he completed the action but he didn't pull away. So he pushed, the zipper down to its base and tucked his hands inside the softly parting fabric, placing one on each of her hips. He could barely distinguish where the satin of her panties ended and the velvet of her skin began, so he cupped his palms over her more possessively in an effort to find out. Then he dragged his open mouth along the elegant line of her spine, drawing his hands up over her waist and rib cage as he went. With one deft move, he pushed the dress from her shoulders, skimming his fingers down over her arms as he helped the garment along until it puddled in a pool of rich blue at her feet.

He moved one hand to her hair so that he might push the silky curtain aside to allow herself further exploration. But Milly beat him to it, reaching behind herself, curling her hands under her hair to lift it high atop her head, so that nothing hindered his progress. John stood slowly leaving another trail of faint kisses as he went along her spine between her shoulder blades, behind her neck, releasing the back clasp of her bra as he passed it. As he helped that garment too to the floor, over one arm at a time as Milly moved first one way then the other, he pushed his hands forward to cup them gently over her breasts. Her nipples went hard against his palms as he filled his hands with her sweet heat, but the rest of her was soft and heavy and warm. Never had he felt such exquisite loveliness, such keen perfection. And never had he wanted a woman the way he wanted Milly.

She arched her body forward, pushing her breasts more completely into his hands, uttering a sound that was ripe with passion. "Promise me you won't stop tonight, John." She said. "Promise me you won't stop until.. not until this is finished."

"I promise I won't stop." He vowed as he pressed a kiss to the silk flesh of her shoulder. "I will never , ever stop." Because if John had his way, then whatever it was that was burning up the air between them was never going to be finished.

"Part of me feels like we should pretend we're teenagers again." She said as she leaned her body back against his. "But I want our first time together to be the way we are now. Let's start from here and go forward."

She spun around to face him and circled her arms around his neck, pushed herself up on tiptoe and covered his mouth with hers. A wild heat surged through him as he returned her kiss, deeply, resolutely, possessively. He tried not to think about what had come before. He tried not to think about what might or might not lay ahead. He thought only of his night, this moment with Milly. He thought about how sweet and lush she felt in his arms, about how fresh and luscious she smelled, about how very badly he needed her, about how very much he wanted her. They were here together now, he told himself and that, for the moment, was all that mattered.

Milly still couldn't quite remember the precise point in the evening where the time-space continuum had shifted, where the past and present had folded in on each other and had seemed to become the same. At the moment, she didn't care. Because at the moment, she was feeling such a delicious mix of emotion and sensation. When John touched her the way he did, she responded with both the innocence of the girl she had once been and with the experience of the woman she had become. She was no stranger to the sex act, having been married as long as she had. But what she felt with John went beyond an act, and it certainly went beyond sex. What she felt with John was new and exciting and so very different from what she had experienced with..

She couldn't even bring herself to think her ex-husband's name now. He was her past and John was her present. John might perhaps be her future too but right now, she wouldn't let herself think that far ahead. So she enjoyed that moment, and the moment that followed it and the one that followed after that. And the moments strung together, one by one, a blur of hazy, delicious sensations and newly blossoming emotions. There was John. There was Milly. There was fire. There was need. There was so much more than she had ever imagined there could be.

The scrape of his shirt against her bare breasts was an acute and sensuous torture, and acting on instinct alone, she rubbed her body languidly against his. John spanned his open hands over her naked back, rushing his fingers up and down her spine, cupping them over her satin-clad ass, pushing her into the heated cradle of his pelvis. She felt him surge against her, ripe and ready, eager to please. She dropped a hand to that part of him, palming the hard ridge through his trousers, rousing a growl of anticipation from what sounded like a very deep place inside him. His hands abandoned her back momentarily, long enough to unfasten his belt and zipper, then they circled her waist again and pulled her close once more.

Milly turned her attention first to the buttons of his shirt, plucking them through their fastenings as quickly as she could. Then she shoved the garment off his shoulders and tugged free his t-shirt from his trousers, pulling it over his head until it too landed in the floor. Then finally they stood naked torso to naked torso.

He was glorious she thought as she drank in her fill of him, flattening her hands to skim them over his shoulders, his abdomen, his arms. She cupped his jaw in her hand and she pushed herself up on tiptoe to kiss him. This time, John met her halfway, roping an arm around her waist to pull her close. As their mouths met, he spun her slowly around and down until they lay side by side on his bed.

John slipped his hands beneath her panties, cupping his hands intently over her ass to mold her against him. He quickly took his pants and briefs off and rolled Milly onto her back to settle himself between her legs.

He dipped his head to hers for a lengthy, through kiss, exploring her mouth intimately possessively. With his tongue. Milly responded by opening her hands over his bare back, curling her fingers into his heated flesh before urging them lower. John moved his head to her neck, burying his face in the delicate curve where neck met her shoulders, brushing soft, butterfly kisses over her tender flesh.

He took one of her breast into his mouth, while cupping the other. He let his free hand wander downward over her flat belly and points beyond, then slipped it deftly beneath the waistband of her panties and between her legs. She cried out as he inserted one long, confident finger inside her, then withdrew it slowly to slide it in more deeply still. Again and again he penetrated her that way, until Milly thought she would go mad with wanting him.

Instinctively, Milly opened herself to his touch, bending her knee as she moved one leg further aside. "Oh, John. Please make love to me."

"Not yet." He whispered as he removed her panties. Milly felt him kiss her knees and the insides of her thighs, urging her legs apart as he ascended. Then she felt his hands moving higher still, felt his thumbs pressing close to that most sensitive part of her once again. With a gentle push, he opened her legs wide and this time she felt the butterfly soft flick of his tongue as he tasted her dewy center.

Fire shot through her at the contact, and she sucked in her breath at the intensity of the heat. She could only feel, could only react, could only savor the wild tumult of sensation that was wheeling through her. John moved his body up alongside hers. Somehow, she found the strength to reach for him and when he came to her, she pulled him close.

"Make love to me." She told him again. "Now, John. I want to feel you inside me. I've waited for so long."

It was all the encouragement he needed. Once he again, he settled himself between her legs. He bent to kiss her as he drove himself deep inside her, pushing his tongue into her mouth with the same possessive purpose with which he penetrated her body. Milly opened to him willingly, welcoming him inside, curling her legs over his thighs, her arms over his shoulders, locking him inside herself. She thrust her hips upward as he drove himself down.

Again and again they claimed each other, each moving more deeply and giving more freely with every coupling until, as one, they cried out in their completion. And then, as one, they clung to each other until the last of the aftershocks had ebbed.

Never in her life had anything felt more good, more right for Milly. Being here with John this way. It was as if she'd found a piece of herself that had been missing. He'd been inside her physically now and ever more important, he was inside her spiritually and emotionally too.

"John." She said softly.

"Hmmm?" He said quietly.

"Earlier tonight, when we were talking about before you said. Well, you said, you told me."

"That I loved you?"

"Yes."

"I still do if that's what you were wondering."

"I was wondering."

"I have always loved you Milly. As much as I tried to tell myself I didn't.. I never stopped." He told her. "But it's different now. I just… I guess the love I felt for you when I was a kid has matured and grown up along with me. Because now."

"Now?"

"It's stronger for one thing. I would have sworn that wasn't possible but it is."

"Good." She told him "Because you should feel certain.."

"And why is that?"

"Because I love you too. I always have. I never stopped. And it's stronger now than it's ever been before."

He inhaled deeply and tucked her head into the curve of his shoulder and neck, resting his cheek on her crown. "Oh Milly. It's been such a long road to get here."

She nodded. "And we still have a ways to go."

"A day's drive. No more than that."

"I wasn't talking about Cincinnati." She said.

"Neither was I."

She leaned her head back and eyed him curiously, but he said nothing more. He only dipped his head to hers and covered her mouth with his, a sweet, innocent kiss that gradually built to something more, something that was in no way innocent, yet still very, very sweet.

And as Milly lost herself to that kiss, lost herself to John, lost herself to everything that was left to come, she still couldn't help wondering how much longer til they got there.

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	31. Chapter 31

At precisely 6:46 p.m. on Thursday evening, the knock that was supposed to come at seven o'clock sharp sounded on the door to Mae's suite. And Mike couldn't help thinking that Chris Irvine was an impatient little prick.

Mike had promised Mae that he would make himself scarce tonight, had promised her he'd be gone or at least be hiding in the closet by the time Chris arrived. And he'd been frankly amazed that she had believed him. Now, he heard water shut off upstairs and realized she'd hadn't heard the knock of the early bird who was really just a worm.

"Why Chris." He said when he opened the door to the malignant little maggot. "It's so good to see you again."

Chris's smile fell a bit when he saw Mike Standing there, instead of Mae, the object of his whatever it was that revolting rapist scumbags like him felt. "Uh, Percy, isn't it?" He asked.

Mike tried not to wince. But his voice was level when he replied. "Yeah. That's me."

"Where's Mae?"

"She's still getting ready."

The putrid little pig nodded thoughtfully. "Strange, you being here at her suite this way when she's expecting me."

Mike shrugged. "Not really."

"Oh?"

But instead of clarifying, Mike decided to let the slimy little swine draw his own conclusions. "Can I get you something while you're waiting?" He asked. "Beer? Wine? Coffee?"

"No, thanks." The vile little vermin replied with an obsequious smile. "I'll just wait for Mae."

Mike figured he had ten minutes, at most, to take care of business before Mae came down. Which was absolutely no problem. He'd done a lot of damage in a lot few than ten minutes in his day. Mike cracked his knuckles with much affection. Chris Irvine, he noticed, noticed.

And so did Mae as she rounded the curve in the stairs. Dammit. She was early and now he'd never be able to beat the hell of Chris before she intervened.

"Percy?" She asked curiously. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to go on that sunset bird watching tour with the boys?"

Oh great. So it wasn't enough she had to name him Percy Lipschitz? He thought. Now she was going to make him a bird watcher, too?

"It got canceled." He told her. "The guys decided to take in a Reds game instead. And you know how I feel about all that unnecessary violence in baseball."

"Then how about taking in a movie?" She asked. "Because Chris and I have plans to go—"

"Sounds great." Mike interrupted before she could finish. "Just let me get my wallet. I'd love to come with you guys. Thanks for inviting me along."

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" He asked Mae several hours later as she paced the length of their suite. "Let you go out alone with that squalid little snake? Who knows what he might have tried to do to you? In case you've forgotten, Mae, I'm your bodyguard. Whether you like it or not."

She halted on the other side of the room. "I can take care of myself, Mike."

"Oh sure. Like you did on prom night?" He hadn't intended to be mean by bringing up something so painful, but Mae was in dire need of a reality check. "He's still twice your size and twice your weight. He could easily overpower you the way he did before. And I've been hired by your father to make sure nothing like that happens, even if JR thinks the real threat lies elsewhere. Don't even expect me to let you out of my sight with that sleazy little scumbag Chris sniffing around."

"Things are different now." She told him. "I know what Chris is and I'm prepared this time."

"Yeah, that's what concerns me." Mike told her. "This preparation you've been preparing for so long. Just what the hell do you have planned for the guy? You said you didn't want to kill him, but that doesn't keep the murderous gleam out of your eyes whenever his name comes up. I need to know what's going on, Mae."

"No, you don't." She countered. "It's none of your business."

"I've made it my business."

"And I'm telling you it's not. When Chris and I go to the reception together tomorrow night."

All night long he'd had to watch while that turgid little toad cozied up to Mae, pressing his body against hers every chance he got, running his hands over every inch of her he could reach in polite society. Mike's own hands had been clenched into perpetual fists and it had taken every ounce of willpower he possessed not to plant one square into Chris's jaw. Worse, he had to watch while Mae pretended to be interested in the slimy little slug.

And all the while Mike had tried to figure out what was going through her mind and what she had planned for the odious little obscenity. But she'd seemed like a woman who was genuinely delighted by her company. A woman who was halfway in love with the man who had robbed her of herself and of her soul. That creepy sensation had washed over Mike again and not just because of Chris Irvine's presence. Mae was up to something. But for the life for him, Mike couldn't figure out what it was.

"You're ruining everything." She said softly. "If you don't let me do this my way, Mike, it's all going to be nothing."

"Just tell me what you're going to do." He pleaded.

She shook her head. "Let me do this my way. I have to do it my way."

"I can't let you do that, Mae. I'm worried about you."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What? You think the pathetic little rape victim can't get past the need for revenge?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, that's exactly what I think."

"I'm over what happened, Mike. I've been over it for a long time."

"Mae, back in Santa Barbara, you live your life the way a thirteen year old girl lives. Trust me. You're not over it."

"Trust me, Mike." She finally said softly. "Trust that I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, you're very knowledgeable about this stuff, aren't you?" He asked cynically.

"I know enough." She assured him.

He took a few deliberate steps toward her, his gaze fixed on hers, stopping only when a few scant inches of air separated them. "Have you ever even kissed a man, Mae?" he asked softly.

Her lips parted fractionally, and two bright spots of pink tinted her cheeks. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Have you?" He asked.

"I don't see what this"

"You said you know what you're doing." He interrupted her. "And you said you're over what happened. I interpret that to mean that you've put the episode behind you and that you've gotten on with your life."

"That's true. I have."

"Then if you've gotten on with your life, you must have had at least a few romantic relationships over the last sixteen years."

Now she said nothing only gazed at him in silence.

"I mean you're a beautiful, intelligent, charming woman. Surely there have been plenty of men who've been interested in you. Men who've asked you out."

"Yes. There have been a few." She told him.

"And surely you've been interested in at least a few of them too." Mike further speculated.

"Maybe one or two."

"So then you must have accepted when they asked you out."

"Um, actually, no. I haven't accepted any of them." She said looking down.

"Why not?" He asked.

"It was never convenient."

"In sixteen years, it's never been convenient for you to go out with a man you found interesting, and who was interested in you?"

"No."

"Then I guess you haven't ever kissed a man, have you?"

"I, uh, no." She finally said. "Just that once. Just Chris."

Just Chris, Mike thought. That was the only experience she'd ever had with a man. "So, then you have no idea what it's really like."

"No." She agreed. "I suppose I don't."

"And yet you say you know what you're doing. You say you've gotten over what happened."

"I have." She insisted halfheartedly. "I have gotten over that. I just haven't."

"What?"

"I have put what happened with Chris in the past." She assured him. "But I just haven't been able to move forward, that's all. In some ways, I kind of got stuck. Life has just sort of happened to me, Mike. I haven't really consciously chosen any of it. Not until this opportunity with Chris presented itself. This is the first time I've ever really decided I was going to do something and then done it. That's why you have to trust me. That's why you can't interfere."

"All right. I won't interfere. Not with Chris."

"Thank you."

He took another step forward, bringing him close enough to her that their bodies were almost flush against each other. He didn't touch her, thought, not right away. He waited for her to become accustomed to his closeness, waited to see if she would take a step away. He lifted a hand to her hair and slowly, gently, twined an errant strand around his finger that had escaped the knot atop her head.

"I can't quite help interfering, though." He told her softly. "With this."

And then he dipped his head forward, very, very slowly, pausing when his mouth hovered only millimeters above hers. He wouldn't kiss her if she didn't want him to, he promised himself. It was her call. And he was reasonably certain that he'd survive if she decided to push him away. But she didn't push him away.

She did lift both hands toward his chest, palms flat, but hesitated before touching him, as if she was uncertain about what she wanted to do. So, Mike waited. He was a patient man. He could wait all night, if that was what it took. Hell, he could wait forever, if the prize at the end of eternity was Mae Ross.

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	32. Chapter 32

As Mike hovered over her, neither kissing her nor moving away, Mae felt panic rise from the pit of her belly, souring the back of her throat. He was so big, she thought. Even though she knew better these days how to take care of herself, he could, if he really wanted to, overpower her. And she'd had no preparation for what he clearly wanted to do. Oh, she'd seen the way he had looked at her this week, had heard the suggestiveness in some of his comments. And she wasn't so naïve that she didn't understand when a man wanted to jack things up to the next level.

In the past, she'd always been very good at discouraging such interest in men the moment it appeared. With Mike, though, she hadn't discouraged it. She told herself that was because she hadn't thought he would act on his interest. He was so cool, so composed, a man who seemed to control his passions the same way he adjusted the temperature of his tap water. She just hadn't thought she needed to discourage him, he seemed so successful at discouraging himself.

Now, however, she wondered if she hadn't discouraged him because she was interested in him too. No, he wasn't the first man she'd found attractive over the years. She'd told him the truth when she said there'd been one or two who'd caught her fancy. But they'd never caught enough of it for her to breach that invisible wall she'd erected around herself for sixteen years. She'd never been interested in them enough to step outside her fortress and make herself vulnerable to them. With Mike, though, for some reason, she did want to break through the self-imposed barrier. She wanted out. She wanted to liberate herself. She wanted, for the first time in sixteen years, to see what it was really like on the outside.

"So without thinking any more about it, reacting on instinct alone, Mae pressed her hands against his chest and tilted her head back a bit. She pushed herself up on tiptoe, and in the breath of a second, her mouth connected with his. And the moment her lips, gazed his, she was nearly overcome by the softness, the warmth, the tenderness of his touch. She had feared she would feel overwhelmed by having him so close. But Mae didn't feel overwhelmed. She didn't feel fear. What she felt was….

The quiver of sensation that wound indolently through her was simply too delicious for words. Slowly, she moved her hands upward, over his chest, toward his shoulders. As she went, she located the pulsing of his heart and she realized it was racing with the same erratic, uncertain pounding as her own. The recognition of that gave her courage, made her feel bolder, and she curled the fingers of one hand around his warm neck. She threaded the others through his blond hair, pulling him down to herself so that she might taste him more deeply. And when she did, Mike followed her down willingly, looping his own arms loosely around her waist.

He didn't press her, didn't take the lead, never tried to seize control. He let her set the pace, let her call the shots, let her take possession of him. And as Mae kissed him more completely, as she opened her mouth to him and tentatively pushed her tongue inside his, she realized she wanted very much to take possession. And once she had him, she thought vaguely, she didn't think she would ever want to let him go.

"Kiss me." She said softly against his mouth, surprising herself. And Mike, too, judging by his expression. "Please, Mike. Kiss me back. Show me how it can be."

It was all the invitation he needed. Even so, when he took the initiative, it was with gentleness and solicitude she hadn't expected. Although Mae had never really been afraid of men after the episode with Chris, she hadn't ever been entirely comfortable around them, either. She'd never fully trusted them. With Mike, though, she realized she did trust him. She wanted to comfortable around him. Because she knew he could never hurt her.

At her soft petition, he tightened one arm around her waist and pulled her to himself, then cupped a hand gently over her cheek. He dipped his head to hers and very gently, covered his mouth with his. Mae closed her eyes so that she might better appreciate the responses keening through her, the heat, the wanting, the need, the desire. So much… There was just so much, she thought. And all of it was so new, so wondrous, so elemental, so nice.

So this was what it was like, she thought. This was how it was supposed to be between a man and a woman. The easy and equal exchange of surrender and capture, of thrust and parry, of give and take. She'd only known half of it before. The capture, the thrusting, the taking. Having the whole picture now was quite enlightening.

Mike kissed her more deeply then, exploring her mouth this time with his tongue. Sharp heat exploded in her belly and her chest at such an intimate penetration, rocketing to her extremities, to her very soul. Her response to him was so visceral, so innate, that she wanted to become one with him right then. But she knew it was too soon. It was one thing to kiss a man and quite another to join her body with his. There would be time for that ultimate coupling later, she told herself. For now she just wanted to feel, to explore, to learn more about how it could be between a man and a woman.

Reluctantly, she tugged her mouth free of his and pushed herself slightly away. She looked at his face and saw a man tormented in much the way she was herself. She told herself that they should stop, that it had gone far enough for now. Instead she said quietly. "Show me more, Mike. Please show me more."

He said nothing in response. He only gazed at her intently for several taut moments, his hands on her back moving lightly up and down. Then suddenly he pulled her body against his again and skimmed a hand lower. Past the small of her neck, past her waist. He brunched a small handful of her dress in his fingers and rubbed the soft fabric languidly back and forth over her heated flesh. Slowly, methodically, he dragged the material up and down, each circular motion drifting the fabric over her sensitive skin, moving the garment higher until Mae felt the cool kiss of air on her naked behind. She thought it was the most erotic sensation she'd ever experienced. Until she felt the warmth of Mike's palm cupping gently over her bare bottom.

Her heart kicked hard against her breastbone at the contact and she opened her mouth to tell him to stop, that they'd gone far enough, that even though she was the one who'd made the request, she was starting to feel frightened now and please, Mike, please don't do that, not yet, not until I'm ready, which I was thought I was but I changed my mind and now I don't want to so please stop.

But before she could get the words out, Mike himself spun away from her., walking uncomfortably to the other side of the room. As he went, he expelled a long, lusty groan from deep inside himself. Her dress fell back down to cover her but Mae still felt naked somehow. Where before she was panicked at feeling such a thing, though, with Mike, such emotional nakedness wasn't quite so alarming.

"Mike?" She said softly. "Is everything okay?"

He inhaled one final breath. "I want to make love to you so badly, Mae. But not until you're ready for it." He pivoted back around to face her. "And not until I'm ready for it too."

She gaped softly at him, confused by his declaration. Then, gradually, she began to understand. Neither one of them was ready for the explosive responses they aroused in each other. She had shaken him as profoundly as he had shaken her. They both had much to learn, about themselves and about each other, before they could take that next monumental step. She smiled as the heat he had sparked to life inside her banked a bit and began to smolder. That fire would never go out completely, she knew. But for now, she could contain it. And then when she was ready, when Mike was ready, the two of them together could spontaneously combust.

"I want to wait for the right time too." She told him."But how long… when do you think that will be?

He grinned at her. "We'll know when the time comes. And the time will come, Mae. Don't doubt that. But right now, it's just too soon. For both of us. We need to give ourselves time. Time to do it right."

She nodded her understanding. Mike was right. They needed time. Time to get to know each other. Time to become comfortable together. Time, perhaps, to even fall in love.

And time for something else too, she knew. Time for her to put the past well and truly in the past, where it needed to remain forever. Time to see to it that Chris Irvine paid for what he had done, and to make sure he never did anything like that again.

Tomorrow, she thought, she would take care of that last item on the list. Tomorrow, she would sneak out without Mike's knowledge somehow and she would go to meet with Chris, before the reception. She would do what she had to do. And then, finally, she would be free to get on with her life.

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	33. Chapter 33

When Mike awoke on Friday, he knew immediately that something was wrong. The hotel suite was too quiet, too dark, too lonely. Although he'd always awoken a couple of hours before Mae, he'd awoken with the knowledge that she was there, too, sleeping peacefully in her bed upstairs. This morning, however, he felt her absence as keenly as he felt his own presence. She'd slipped out without his knowledge, something he would have sworn she wouldn't possibly be able to do. He was a light sleeper by nature and when it came to Mae Ross, he'd developed a strange kind of sixth sense over the past week. Mae, however, had managed to outmaneuver him. Damn, she was good.

Mike didn't bother to shower or shave or eat. He simply grabbed the same clothing he'd worn the night before and tugged the garments on as quickly as he could. The keys for the rental car weren't where he'd left them the night before, which came as no surprise at all. In spite of that, he hurried up the stairs to check Mae's bedroom, in a last ditch effort to see if maybe he was wrong about her leaving. But he wasn't wrong, she wasn't there.

Mike was on his way out of the room when he saw the purse Mae had been carrying the night before lying on the chair that was tucked beneath the desk. It didn't look big enough to hold more than one or two of the basic feminine necessities, but he snatched it up anyway and opened it. Much to his surprise, thought, it didn't hold any basic feminine necessities. Not unless one considered a full clip for a .25 caliber automatic weapon basic, feminine or necessary. Oh my god, Mike thought. To put it mildly.

Because where there was a clip, there must be a gun, even though that gun wasn't, technically, with that clip at the moment. That only meant that the gun was somewhere else. And where there was a gun, he feared, there was Mae Ross. And where there was Mae Ross, there was Chris Irvine. And where there was Chris Irvine, there was trouble.

Oh God, Mike thought again. Surely she wouldn't. Surely she wasn't planning anything like that. Surely there was a good reason for why Mae Ross had come back to Cincinnati packing heat, a reason other than that she planned to fill Chris Irvine full of lead. If only Mike knew where she was, he could ask her about that very thing. Unfortunately, he had no idea where she might be. Although she'd was absent from Cincinnati for some time now, she was still a native. She almost certainly remembered her way around. She could be anywhere.

But, hey, a complete lack of knowledge had never stopped Mike Mizanin before, no way. He was an investigator after all. He could find anyone. Even Mae Ross. Probably. He just hoped that, when he did, she wasn't standing over a body, holding a gun whose clip was empty.

"Hey, Cincinnati! Thank God it's Friday, huh? We have something special for you this fine Friday afternoon. We're going to bring you an eighties flashback weekend, starting today. Enjoy. A personal favorite of mine is up next. Indulge me. It's Josie Cotton, with 'He Could Be The One.'"

Milly grinned at the appropriateness of the musical selection, then leaned forward and nudged the volume a little higher. John had more than made good on his promise to arrive in Cincinnati by dinnertime on Friday. In fact, they crossed the Ohio River and rolled into downtown just before four in the afternoon.

The entire Cincinnati skyline had changed, she marveled upon their approach, feeling a mix of melancholy and satisfaction at seeing it. Building rose up against the bright blue sky now that hadn't been there sixteen years before and the old ones she remembered seemed different somehow.

When they pulled to a stop in front of the Stanhope Hotel, Milly saw that it, too, had experienced its own share of changes. At some point over the last sixteen years, a massive renovation had occurred. The last time she'd stood here in front of the place, on prom night, the stately old hotel had been charming, to be sure, though in a somewhat neglected state. It had been tired looking and poorly lit, the carpeting faded, the woodwork dull. Now, though, it shone like a bright jewel.

"The Stanhope looks great, doesn't it?" John said when he noted where her attention lay. "It was bought by a big chain about five years ago and they completely renovated the place."

She considered the old place again. "Yeah but I kind of miss the way it was before."

"Things change, Milly. There's nothing we can do to stop it. We just might as well try to make the best of it. Especially if things changes for the better."

"Yeah but who's to say what's better?"

He smiled at her. "We are."

And before she could comment on that, he opened the back hatch on the SUV and began to unload their bags. He looked gorgeous and yummy, his faded jeans molding his hips and thighs, his dark green polo hugging his broad shoulders and lean torso. She still had trouble believing how sweetly perfectly they had made love the night before. Twenty-four hours ago, she'd been feeling lost and lonely and uncertain about herself and about the future. But suddenly, today, the entire world was different.

John was right, she thought. Things did change for the better sometimes, if you let them. Naturally, there were still some things between the two of them that they needed to address before she could really focus on the future. But that was just the point, after last night, she was thinking about the future. And she'd stopped worrying about the past. Better still, she was enjoying the present, because it was no longer the empty, lonely place it had been for too long.

She loved John, she realized, not altogether surprised by the discovery. She had loved him sixteen years ago and she loved him today. But her love now was different from the love she had felt for him in the past. It was more profound, more passionate, more precarious. It was an adult love, and therefore more frightening. Because where teenaged love was by no means stable or permanent, this one, she knew, would last forever. And she had to trust that John's love for her was the same. That was a lot of trust to give to one person. And Milly wasn't' yet sure whether or not she could do it.

As quickly as John placed their luggage on the ground, a bellman appeared to load the bags onto a dolly. After explaining that they were meeting up with guests who had already arrived, they headed off for the desk. Milly, however, need to make a quick side trip, because in their anxiousness to get to Cincinnati as soon as they could, they hadn't stopped at all for their final two hours on the road.

"I need to use the ladies' room." she whispered to John as they took their place at the end of a short line at the reservations desk.

"Can't it wait? This shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

She shook her head. "Sorry. I'll be right back. By then you'll have us all checked in and we can head on up to find Mae and Mike."

"But I don't want to let you out of my sight." He said with a smile. He leaned forward to brush his mouth lightly over her neck. "You could be in danger, after all." He reminded her in a low voice meant for her ears alone. "Mainly because you look good enough to eat."

Heat flared through her entire body at the way he uttered that final word and she was thankful for the breezy, loose-fitting flowered jumper that she wore. Hopefully nobody but her would notice the physical repercussions his words had on her fevered body.

"Oh God." John groaned softly beside her. "I love how your nipples get hard when I talk dirty to you."

Okay, so hopefully nobody but her and John would notice, she hastily amended. "I'll be right back."

"Hurry." He told her.

As she scurried off to find the ladies' room, Milly found herself hoping that Mae and Mike, as much as she wanted to see them, had decided to go out for a little while this afternoon. That way she and John could steal a little more time alone together. Although what they'd discovered in St. Louise was still new enough to be thoroughly exciting and arousing, she didn't think there would ever come a time when things weren't thoroughly exciting and arousing between them. John was just that kind of guy. And, Milly admitted with a smile, she was just that kind of girl.

After tending to her business in the ladies' room, she paused in the adjacent lounge to evaluate her appearance, wincing at the image that gazed back at her from the mirror. She dragged a brush through her hair, applied a light coat of lipstick, then gathered up her purse and headed out of the lounge to return to John. She halted abruptly in the hallway before making it to the lobby, though, because she saw a familiar figure leaning against the wall, between her and final destination.

Before Milly had a chance to react, the man pushed himself away from the wall and was quickly joined by two others.

"Milly." He said in a chillingly smooth voice, "long time, no see."

And before she had a chance to say a word in response, the trio of men lunged toward her.

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	34. Chapter 34

Twenty minutes after Milly's departure, John stood leaning against the concierge desk, impatiently awaiting her return and totally annoying the concierge. Okay, he knew women took a long time in the rest room, but this was ridiculous. Milly had promised to be right back. And he'd made an erotic suggestion she'd clearly been enthusiastic about. No way should she be taking twenty minutes. He glanced down at his watch. Twenty-two minutes, he corrected himself. Okay, enough was enough. He was about to go storming off for the ladies' room when a slim, gray-haired woman approached the concierge desk carrying what looked very much like Milly's purse.

"Excuse me." She said to the man behind the desk. "I found this handbag on the floor near the ladies' room. I'm sure someone must be looking for it."

John studied the handbag closely. Yep. It was definitely Milly's. He knew that, because he was the one who'd given her the Disney Princess key chain, Belle natch, that dangled from one end of the strap. It was one of the prizes he'd won her at the amusement park in Amarillo.

"I know the owner of that bag." He told the concierge as the woman handed it to him. The concierge appeared in no way convinced. "I do. Check the driver's license in the wallet. It will belong to a Milly Ross of Santa Barbara, California. Or maybe Milly Batista of Los Angeles. I'm not sure if she got her name and address changed back on her license after her divorce."

In spite of the concierge's clear dubiety, the man did as John instructed and checked the wallet. His eyebrows arched in surprise when he looked at the driver's license.

"Milly Ross." He said. "Santa Barbara, California."

"Told you." John retorted. Then he realized the significance of Milly's purse being here without Milly being attached to it, something in his belly went rancid. He turned to the woman who'd brought it over. "Where did you find this?"

The woman led him across the lobby and down a hallway, past a bank of telephones and two water fountains to where it ended with an emergency exit flanked by a men's rest room on one side and a women's rest room on the other.

"I found the bag here." She said. "It had fallen open and a few of the things inside had spilled out. I can't imagine someone dropping it without realizing."

Yeah, neither could John. And that bothered him a lot. What bothered him even more was that the emergency exit door was slightly ajar. He pushed it open and passed through and found himself on a sidewalk bordering a parking lot that appeared to be infrequently used, judging by the lack of cars parked there. He looked left and then right but he saw no sign of Milly.

"Thanks." He said over his shoulder to the woman.

John took a few more steps into the parking lot. He was about to turn away when something small near the street exit caught his eye. He jogged over, that sick feeling in the pit of his stomach roiling now. That feeling turned to terror, however, when he bent down to pick up Milly's sandals.

Oh God, he thought wildly. Oh God. Some matriarchfricking bodyguard he had turned out to be. And then that thought was superseded by another. JR, Milly's father. Could this be one of his setups? John wondered. Even thought the old man had promised he wouldn't interfere again? Even though it made no sense for the guy to have his daughter kidnapped in Cincinnati? Not that it made sense for him to have his daughter kidnapped anywhere else either but still Jim Ross wasn't exactly Make Room for Daddy material.

Could JR be behind this? John wondered again. And if wasn't, he thought further, growing sicker with each passing second, then who was?

"Of course I called the police and small world that it is, the detective I spoke to turned out to be somebody I graduated with. And then what the hell was I supposed to tell them?"

John paced from one end of Mike and Mae's suite to the other and tried not to feel like a trapped rat as he recounted the days' events to his partner. "Yes, Detective, I'm sure she was taken against her will. No, I'm positive she wasn't trying to ditch me. Well, yes, as a matter of fact, there was a rumor that I tried to molest her on prom night, but that was a total lie. In fact, we'd just discovered and declared our undying love for each other. Yes, I'm sure she felt the same way I do. Yes, trust me. No, I'm not stalking her. Yes, she does share my feelings. Really, honest, she does."

He stopped pacing and turned to his friend. "Hell I'm lucky they didn't arrest me. Somehow, Mike, I get the impression that they're not going to go out of their way on this one. Not until Milly's been gone for a good, long time. Or else not until her body turns up floating face down in the Ohio River."

In addition to the police, John had also called JR, in fact he'd done that first, only to hear Milly's father tell him that, number one, he most definitely had not arranged a phony kidnapping for Milly once she arrived in Cincinnati and number two, he would catch the next flight out of Santa Barbara and be there as soon as he could.

Now Mike was looking decidedly disturbed by all that John had told him, which only went to show how very serious the matter was. Even in the most dire circumstances, Mike never let anybody see him sweat. Now though, he looked ready to tear the sofa in two with his bare hands. God, what happened to him this week? John wondered. Mike looked like he'd slept in his clothes, he hadn't bothered to shave, his eyes were shadowed, and his expression was bleak. John had known the effect that the Ross women could have on a person, but he'd been so sure that Mae and Mike would be much too cool to ever succumb. To.. well each other evidently.

"Mae's been missing since this morning." Mike said. "I thought I knew where she went and I thought she went there under her own speed. But now I'm not so sure. Maybe someone took her too."

John nodded. "Maybe we were all a bit hasty in deciding that Jim Ross was just being paranoid about his daughters coming back to town. Because you know Mike, it's not paranoia when people really are out to get you."

"Let's not jump to conclusions." Mike said. "We don't know for sure that Mae and Milly were taken against their will."

"I know Milly was." John said.

Mike didn't contradict him. What he did say was, "I think Mae is carrying."

"What?" John exclaimed.

"I found a full clip in one of her purses but no gun to go with it. I figure that must be because she's got the weapon on her, wherever she is."

"Why the hell would Mae be packing?" John asked.

But Mike only shook his head silently in response. Even so, John could tell that he knew something John didn't know himself but wasn't going to share it. For the first time in their four year friendship and partnership, Mike was keeping something from him.

"So what do we do now?" Mike asked.

"I don't know." John replied. "They could be miles from here by now, apart or together, who knows?"

"We should call the FBI." Mike said. "There's a good chance they, or at least Milly, may have been taken across state lines. Hell, the next state is right there." He pointed out the window across the Ohio River toward Kentucky.

John inhaled deeply and nodded his agreement with Mike and was about to go look for the phone book when scrape of a key card in the door jerked both his and Mike's attention in that direction. When Mae Ross entered the room, they each lurched forward, startling her so badly that she instinctively took a step back.

"Where the hell have you been?" Mike demanded.

In spite of everything, John smiled. Because his friend was showing every sign of being totally smitten by the other Ross sister.

"I've been out." She said. "Jeez, you're worse than my father."

John shook his head in disbelief. Mike and Mae. He never would have guessed the two of them would hook up but now that he saw them together, he realized how appropriate the pairing was.

"Oh yeah." Mike charged. "Well it turns out that maybe your father wasn't so wrong to be worried about you and your sister after all."

Mae narrowed her eyes at Mike then at John. "John? When did you get here? Where's Milly?"

"Gone." John said.

"Gone." Mae echoed. "What are you talking about?"

"We think someone took her, Mae." Mike said. "I was worried, I mean, we were worried that they might have taken you too."

"No, we know someone took Milly." John countered. "Her purse was found downstairs and I found one of her shoes out in the parking lot. Someone took her against her will. And we're afraid she'd been taken out of town, out of state. Mike and I were just about to call the FBI when you came in."

Mae's mouth dropped open as John spoke but she closed it and eyed first him, and then Mike. "Don't worry about calling the FBI."

"Why not?" John demanded. "I think we need them on this."

Mae expelled a resigned sigh." Because they're already here, that's why." She said.

John only gazed at her in confusion for a moment, but it took Mike no time to figure it out.

"You work for the FBI?" He asked.

Mae nodded. "And if someone took Milly against her will, then I'm fairly certain I know who it was."

John studied her curiously. "Who?" He asked.

Mae met his gaze levelly. "Chris Irvine."

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	35. Chapter 35

"Lemma get this straight." John said a little while later, after Mae had made a couple of phone calls and he and Mike had poured themselves a couple of stiff drinks. "You're a fed?"

"I'm not a field agent." Mae corrected him. "Not anymore. I've been out of the field for a couple of years. Now, I'm an instructor at a federal training facility just outside Santa Barbara. My specialty is domestic militia group, I teach other field agents about them. But I'm also a firearms expert."

John gaped at her in disbelief for a minute, then turned his attention to Mike and found that his friend was, well gaping at her in disbelief too.

"And Chris heads up a militia group?" John asked.

Mae shook her head. "No, he has nothing to do with anything like that. It wasn't my expertise in that area that brought me into this investigation. It was my familiarity with the Irvine family. What I didn't know when I was a kid, though, was that Chris's father, Ted, had his fingers in all sorts of illegal pies as did his father's father, Stephen, before that. The entire Irvine family has been on the wrong side of the law since before Prohibition, but no one was ever able to make anything stick. Not until recently."

John shook his head too, harder than Mae had, as if that might somehow clear it of his utter and profound confusion. "I'm still totally lost here."

"Chris took over the family business, so to speak, after his father's death." Mae said. "But he's not nearly intelligent as his father or grandfather were. Nor does he have the head for business that his wife did."

"His wife?" Mike echoed. "What the hell does his wife have to do with anything? She's dead."

Mae nodded. "She is not, but she wasn't' three years ago when she took over her father's business."

John narrowed his eyes, afraid to ask what he wanted to ask. "And what was Chris's wife's name"

"Stephanie McMahon. Being the liberated woman, and mob matriarch, that she was, she kept her name after they married.

John nodded knowingly now. "And Stephanie McMahon is."

"Vince McMahon's daughter."

"And Vince McMahon was the source of the original threat made against you and your sister sixteen years ago." John said recalling what JR had told him and Mike that night at The Keep.

"So when Vince McMahon died." Mike concluded, "Stephanie took over his business affairs."

"His illegal business affairs." Mae injected. "He was Chris's father partner and his family was just as dirty as the Irvines were. Stephanie and Chris's marriage was pretty much arranged when they were kids. Kind of like two sovereign nations combining their power with an arranged marriage. Only here it was two crime families combining their power. And Stephanie, until she died, was the head of it all. Chris only took over after her death. But, as I said, he's not as smart as she was. He's made some mistakes and been very sloppy since he took control. The FBI has been collecting information on him all along and eight months ago, we got a break when Chris did something especially stupid. And I'm not at liberty to discuss the details." She added when John opened his mouth to ask for them.

"So, how'd you get involved in all this?" He asked instead.

"The investigation into Chris's and Stephanie's affairs eventually included all the people the Irvines and McMahons had ever done business with, which included my father. That's how I found out about it. And when I did, I volunteered to make myself available in whatever capacity they needed me, because of my history with Chris. As I said, I've been out of the field for a while, but I still know the ropes. Now that it's come time to reel Chris in, I'm the person they decided to use as bait."

"Why didn't you tell me about all this, Mae?" Mike asked. "I could have helped you."

She hesitated for moment, then finally said. "Number one, I didn't need any help. I know exactly what I'm doing. This is my job. Number two, I can take care of myself. I've been trained at self-defense, and I'm an expert marksman. And number three, I didn't want you to get hurt, Mike. I couldn't have stood it if something had happened to you."

This, John noticed, clearly moved Mike. If the man hadn't already been halfway over the moon for the woman, her admission would have had him doing laps around the cow.

"Even though, I knew Chris was dangerous." Mae continued. "I honestly didn't think he'd come after me or Milly. I really thought Stephanie's gripe with the Rosses was Stephanie's gripe with the Rosses. Not Chris's. Plus, Chris's relationship with the Rosses was of a more personal nature. And it was with me, not the rest of the family."

The comment confused John but judging by the look on his partner's face at the moment, he didn't think it would be a good idea to press the issue right now.

"Still." Mae added. "I didn't think Milly would be in any danger. Especially with John around."

Oh sure, throw that up in my face, John thought.

"And I really did think that this operation would go off without a hitch. Especially when Mike told me you and Milly were driving in and wouldn't be here until the weekend. That gave me plenty of time. All I was supposed to do while I was here was wear a wire and lure Chris alone somewhere and get him to"

"You were wearing a wire last night?" Mike interrupted.

She nodded. "Yes."

"Under that dress?"

"Yes."

"And you're wearing one now?" He demanded further.

"Yes."

"Under that dress?"

"Yes."

"Where the hell did you put it?"

She smiled. "Modern technology is an amazing thing."

"Man, I'll say."

"Anyway, I was supposed to get Chris alone. And try to get him to incriminate himself, or, at the very least, say something that might offer us additional information we didn't already have. I mean, we have a lot, but one solid, incontrovertible piece of information would tie it all up nicely with a big, satin bow. And then, once Chris incriminated himself, my colleagues were going to do the rest."

"But I never had the opportunity to do my job last night." She added, turning her attention pointedly to Mike.

"Uh, sorry about that. See if you'd told me what was going on."

"What? You would have left me alone with him?"

"Well no. But I might have hung back a little."

"Yeah right." She said. "That's why I went out alone this morning, hoping to find him. Unfortunately, I never caught up with him. Obviously, because he had other things to do today. Like snatch my sister. He'd probably plan to come after me too, but his game with me is evidently a bit more elaborate. He's going to toy with me first."

She began to think hard about something and John and Mike remained silent while she did. Then, finally she said. "I can still meet with Chris tonight, the way he and I originally planned and try to finish up what I started. But that doesn't help Milly now. If I could just figure out where he took her. If we just knew of someplace he used for things like." Her eyes suddenly went wide, as if something of monumental importance had just occurred to her. "Oh, God. I think I know where he might have her."

"Where?" John demanded.

But instead of answering his question, Mae glanced down at her watch. "The class of ninety-five's reception will be starting in a little over an hour. Chris doesn't realize we're on to him. Or does he?" She pondered aloud further. "John, did he see you and Milly together this afternoon? Would he have made any kind of connection between the two of you and get suspicious?"

"I have no idea." John answered honestly. "For what it's worth, I never saw him. But that's no guarantee of anything."

Mae chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment. "We'll just have to risk that he didn't. He and I agreed last night to meet down in the lobby at seven and go in to the reception together. I'm thinking he's just stupid enough, and just arrogant enough, to go ahead and meet me as planned. Hey, he'll probably get off on it, knowing he kidnapped my sister this afternoon and it's squiring me around tonight. I just hope he hasn't done anything to hurt Milly."

John really, really, really wished Mae hadn't put voice to her fear. Because until that moment, he'd been marginally successful at keeping his own fears for Milly at bay. But once Mae said aloud what had been lurking at the back of his mind for the last hour, all those fears came rushing to the fore. And John began to feel sick all over again.

The Mae seemed to think of something. "If Chris doesn't know you're involved with Milly. You could be at the reception tonight too, as nothing more than a returning member of the class of ninety-five. And Chris wouldn't be suspicious."

"Yeah?" John asked. "So?"

"So, if memory serves, you have a sixteen year old bone to pick with Chris. Isn't he the one who spread rumors about how you assaulted Milly on prom night?"

John nodded stiffly. "Yeah."

Mae grinned. "Then I think I have a plan. And, better yet, I think it just might work. John, you stay here at the hotel with me, I'll need you at the reception. Mike, you can go with my colleagues to get Milly."

"You're sure you know where she is?"

Mae nodded. "Ninety-nine percent sure. Let me make a few more phone calls. But here's what we're going to do."

John listened closely as she outlined her plan but he felt a little numb about everything he'd discovered. Boy, you leave town for one lousy week, he thought, and when you come back, nothing is the same as it was when you left. He'd found and fallen in love with Milly Ross all over again, only to her stolen right out from under his nose. His best friend and partner, whom John had never seen show more than a passing interest in a woman, had fallen head over heels in love, too. Mae Ross was a fed. And Chris Irvine, all-American boy next door and rescuer of stranded, rejected women was actually a scumbag criminal who would stoop to kidnapping and terrorizing the very woman he had rescued all those years ago.

Man, he thought as Mae's plan took shape. High school reunions sure could bring out the worst in a person.

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	36. Chapter 36

Mae inhaled a deep, shaky breath and expelled it as slowly as she could and she somehow refrained from pacing anxiously across the hotel lobby. She stood near the fountain, where she and Chris had decided to meet, dressed in a tiny little black strapless cocktail dress she just knew would grab his attention. She'd accessorized it with drop earring and a choker of jet beads, smoky sheer stocking, black heels and her favorite listening device. And she tried not to clutch her little back beaded evening bag too tightly, because she had a couple more essential accessories in there, not the least of which was her sidearm.

She only hoped Chris was, in fact, stupid enough and arrogant enough to show up tonight. Then again, she wasn't especially worried about that. She was fairly confident that he would show up. Because she was more than confident that he was stupid and arrogant.

And speaking of stupid and arrogant, there he was, right on time, she noticed, striding through the main entry of the Stanhope Hotel. He looked dapper and handsome and charming in his dark suit and ruby necktie and he made Mae's flesh crawl. She forced a gentle smile and took a few steps forward, meeting him halfway across the lobby.

She was an excellent judge of people, or at least, had been since prom night. She studied Chris closely as she approached him. Evidently, he hadn't seen Milly with John earlier that day. Or, if he had, he hadn't sensed anything suspicious about them being together.

"You look absolutely bewitching." He said as he took both of her hands in his.

She forced a faint blush and dropped her gaze to the ground. "Oh, Chris, you do say nicest things. Thank you."

He threw a surreptitious glance over her shoulder, as if he was looking for someone. "You don't have your bodyguard with you tonight?"

Heat flared in Mae's belly, but she managed a puzzled smile. "My bodyguard? What do you mean?"

"Percy." Chris fairly spat. "Your cousin. I figured he'd be intruding onto our good time again. Ruining everything."

"Oooh, Percy. No, he had to go back home. His mother called him."

Chris oozed out an oily little smile. "Excellent. Then I'll have you all to myself tonight."

Mae tucked her arm through his. "I think we're going to have a wonderful time tonight. I can't wait to see some of our former classmates."

"Yes." Chris said as they strode toward the elevators that would take them to the ballroom. He regaled her with stories of some of their classmates' lives. Mae found herself envying most of those lives that he described. There had been a time in her life when she'd fantasized about such an ordinary existence for herself, a career in a field she enjoyed, marriage, family and a house in the suburbs. But that fantasy had never materialized, thanks to the road she'd begun traveling or perhaps had retreated down after what had happened to her at the prom. She'd known after that night that she would never feel ordinary again. That she would never have a life she totally enjoyed. So, she'd done what she could to exist as happily as could be expected.

And in a way, she had been happy. At least, happy enough. She'd always liked her work and she had friends and a loving family. She'd been reasonably happy if not completely so. Still, she'd never quite been able to shake the feeling that there was something missing from her life, something big. She would have swore that that something was not a man. Now, however, after discovering Mike, she realized that that was exactly what had been missing. Not a man, so much, but affection. Affection she could give to another human being. Affection that another human being would give to her.

She glanced over at Chris and pretended to hang on his every word. Now, if she could only survive the evening, she thought. She would discover what it was like to find the total happiness she had never thought she would know.

"Ah, here we are." Chris said as he came to a stop before the ballroom entrance. "Welcome Woodhaven High School Class of ninety-five."

They were greeted at the table with the name tags by Phil Brooks and his partner, Mason. Mae smiled at them and moved to fasten her name tag to her dress.

"Allow me." Chris said before she had the chance.

And before she could stop him, he plucked the plastic badge from her grasp and affixed it to her dress for her. To do so, he thrust his fingers down the front of her bodice, pressing the backs of his knuckles shamelessly against her breast. It took all she had not to double a fist and whale him one upside the head.

"Thank you." She said.

"My pleasure." He replied. "Let's not stay too long at the reception all right? Being at the Stanhope with you tonight is rousing all kinds of memories. Memories I'd like very much to relieve. I can't wait to show you the boathouse. It's always been a special place for me. And I think you'll be surprised by what you find there tonight."

She made herself smile. "We have plenty of time for that, Chris. First there really are some people I want to see."

He feigned impatience. "If you insist."

"I insist." She knew he had big, big plans for the night but he didn't know she did as well.

For the next two hours, Mae kept a close eye on Chris, her wristwatch, and the main entrance to the ballroom as they circled through the crowd. Then shortly after nine, she glanced toward the ballroom entrance to see one of her colleagues from the Bureau standing at the ready, his single nod her signal that all was well. And she expelled a slow, silent sigh of relief when she realized her sister was safe and sound. Now, all Mae had to do was get Chris alone and make him an offer he couldn't refuse. Or else shoot him. She wasn't really particular.

But he saved her the trouble of having to conjure a pretense just then by abandoning all pretenses himself. "I think this evening has dragged on long enough." He said suddenly, after he'd separated himself and Mae from a small group of old classmates. "I'm getting bored. I want us to be alone. You'll come with me now, Mae. You'll come with me because I have Milly."

"But Milly's not here yet." Mae countered, pretending to misunderstand. "She's driving from Santa Barbara and won't arrive until tomorrow."

"Wrong." Chris corrected her. "Funnily enough, I came to the hotel for you earlier today"

"For me?" She interrupted laughing. "What a coincidence, Chris. Because I was out looking for you."

"Well, I doubt you had the same intentions for me that I had for you."

"Oh? And what were your intentions for me, Chris?"

"Actually." He said with another one of his evil little grins. "I had intended to kidnap and torture you, and then send you home to your father in little pieces."

Oh, my, Mae thought. That was going to sound good on tape. She forced her eyes wide in what she hoped looked like stark, raving terror and tried not to giggle triumphantly.

"But instead. Lo and behold, fate dropped your sister right into my lap. I saw her walking across the hotel lobby and when she turned down a hallway, I, and my companions, followed her."

"Goodness, Chris." Mae said. "Don't tell me you kidnapped and tortured Milly, then cut her up into little pieces. That's going to put a damper on the reunion, don't you think?"

This time Chris was the one to widen his eyes. And his mouth too, because he only gaped like a dead fish at her response. Mae was just about to express her gratitude to him for being so specific about his treats when their conversation was interrupted. Right on cue.

"Hey! Hey, Chris Irvine! I have a bone to pick with you, you lying little sonofabitch!"

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	37. Chapter 37

Mike and Mae glanced up as one to find John crossing the ballroom toward them, holding a half-empty glass of Scotch in one hand. His necktie was askew, one side of his collar was bent upward, and he wove back and forth as if he had tied on a mean drunk. Before Chris realized what was coming, John grabbed the lapel of his jacket and jerked him hard forward, toward the largest group of their classmates who had gathered nearby. Caught off guard, Chris stumbled along behind John, righting himself just before he would have fallen, something Mae realized belatedly that she would rather liked to have seen.

"Hey, everybody!" John shouted, more drunkenly and more loudly, this time rousing the attention of just about everybody in the ballroom. "C'mere! Come over here! Look who I found! It's that lying little sonofabitch, Chris Irvine!"

Mae had followed the men to where they stood now and she noted that Chris had gone a little pale. She also noticed that he was gazing at her curiously, as if he couldn't understand why she wasn't using this opportunity to run for her life.

"John Cena." He said disdainfully when John reeled to a halt beside him. His attention ricocheted from Mae to John then back to Mae. Ultimately, though, it was John who finally commanded it. "If you have a bone to pick with me, Cena. It's one of your making."

John opened his mouth to respond, then glanced past Chris to Mae. "Do I know you?" He asked her, slurring the words together and narrowing his eyes as if he was trying to remember.

"Mae Ross." She said cheerfully.

"Oooohhhhh," John replied drunkenly. "No. I don't remember you. But I do remember your sister." He turned to look at Chris again. "Which brings me back to you, you sonofabitch." He stepped right in front of Chris, then thrust his free hand forward, against the other man's chest, pushing him backward, closer to the crowd.

Chris stumbled again but recovered well, then jerked his head upward, meeting John's gaze levelly. "Maybe we should take this outside."

"Oh no." John told him, shaking his head as if very intoxicated now. "No, no, no,no, no." His voice trailed off as his eyes seemed to glaze over a bit. "Where was I?" He asked no one in particular. "Oh yeah. Oh no, you don't. You sonofabitch. We'll keep it riigght here. I think the whooole class of ninety-five deserves to know what a lying little sonofabitch you are. Tell 'em."

Chris arched his eyebrows idly. "Tell them what?"

"Tell 'em how you lied about what happened between me and Milly Ross on prom night. Tell 'em how I never hurt her and how you made it all up, because because, you're a lying little sonofabitch. That's why. Go on, tell 'em.

"I never lied about that." Chris said. "I saw you walking away from the car, Cena, and I found Milly inside, in a state. It was obvious what had happened. And I, for one, can think of nothing more contemptible than a man forcing himself on an unwilling woman."

Oh, Mae really had to bit her tongue at that one. And she had to use every last scrap of self-control she possessed to keep from pulling her gun on him and riddling him with enough bullets to qualify him for Swiss cheese status.

John, on the other hand, evidently had no such qualms. Not that he pulled a gun on Chris but he did toss his half-empty drink in Chris's face. And when he did, the crowd that had gathered around them gasped as one, then went deadly silent.

"I never forced myself on her." John said, straightening, all traces of drunkenness suddenly vanishing. "And if she was here right now, she'd tell you that herself."

With surprising calm, Chris withdrew a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped his face dry. He then stuffed it back into his pocket and narrowed his eyes at John. "You."

"It's true." A voice from behind Mae interrupted him.

Chris and Mae both spun around at the sound of it, Mae smiling in relief, Chris gaping in disbelief. Because Milly stood at the very front of the crowd, with Mike standing on one side of her and three federal agents standing on the other. She looked healthy and safe and happy, and she was dressed in a spectacular little blue dress that Mae had to admit did wonders to bring out her features.

"John never hurt me that night." Milly said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Chris Irvine is a big, fat liar. Among other things. "She offered John a dazzling smile and crossed to where he stood. Then she lovingly adjusted his necktie and collar and brushed an affectionate kiss across his lips. "John was a perfect gentleman that night." She then turned her attention to Chris. "You, on the other hand, Chris, are no gentleman at all. Which is what I told the police and these nice FBI agents just a few minutes ago when I formally pressed kidnapping charges against you. You're just lucky no one got hurt when they came to get me at your boathouse. Your colleagues, as it turns out, are as gutless and free of honor as you are. They ran off. Or rather, they tried to run off. I think they're currently chatting with the police and the feds, telling him all sorts of interesting things about you."

Now the crowd that had gone silent suddenly came alive with murmurs, gasps, and whispers. Chris, too, came alive, ready to turn and bolt from the room. Mae, however, anticipated his attempted escape and hurled herself against him, shoving him to the ground. In one swift, graceful motion, she straddled him, reached into her purse for a pair of handcuffs and snapped them onto his wrists.

"Chris Irvine." She said. "You arrogant, stupid, loathsome pig, you're under arrest. For too many things for me to list here now. But let's start with kidnapping my sister, shall we? And threatening to to cut us both up into little pieces. And all those nasty dealings you've had with nasty people you shouldn't be having dealing with. I'll let my colleagues outline the details of everything else."

Signaled by her statement, two men and a woman wearing plain dark suits arrived beside the prone body of Chris Irvine and jerked him to standing. Mae stood, too, straightened her little black dress, and happily handed her capture over into their care. She wanted to check on Milly to be sure she was okay but one look at the way her sister and John were eyeing each other made Mae think she should wait a bit.

As her colleagues escorted Chris away, outlining his right to remain silent, she moved to stand beside Mike and watched calmly the retreating back of the man who no longer posed any threat to her, either literally or figuratively. He was going to to be put away, in a very icky place, for a very long time. And he was going to be out of her memories forever.

"Was that a gun I just saw in your purse?" Mike asked as she took her place by his side.

"Mm-hm." She told him. "My favorite automatic."

"Have you been carrying that all week?"

"Yep."

"I'd like to know where you had it."

"I bet you would."

He smiled. "I love you." He said.

She smiled back. "I know." When she looked up at Mike, it was to find him gazing at her expectantly and her smile broadened. "I love you too. And I can't wait to start showing you how much."

"And I can't wait." He said softly, bending down to nuzzle the side of her neck. "To find out where you hid that wire."

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	38. Chapter 38

Milly looped her arm through John's as she watched the authorities escort Blond Chris Irvine to the door. Boy, she thought, this was really going to wreak havoc with Mae's plan to marry the guy. Then Milly gazed over at her sister and Mr. Mike Mizanin, saw the way two of them were gazing at each other as if they had some really big plans, and realized that maybe, just maybe, she had been making assumptions about her sister, and a lot of other people, for a long time that weren't exactly accurate.

"Wanna dance?"

She turned her attention back to John and smiled. "There's, um, no music playing." She pointed out.

"Yeah, well considering how the feds, who weren't even invited to this shindig, I might point out."

"Neither were you, from what I hear." She interrupted.

But John ignored the comment. "Considering how the feds just took the class president out in handcuffs. Music, at this point, wouldn't exactly be in good taste."

As if cued by their discussion, the music did start up again then, the hired DJ having evidently decided that music might improve the sudden downturn in the mood of the crowd. The song was something slow and mellow and strangely familiar.

"Do my ears deceive me?" John asked. "Is that Barry Manilow I hear?"

"I believe it is." Milly said with a slow nod.

He stepped back a pace and opened his arms wife in an unmistakable invitation. "Come on, baby. They're playing our song."

Milly chuckled as she went to him, curling her hands against his chest and snuggling close as he folded his arms over her back. His warmth and his scent surrounded her and she sighed silently her contentment at being so close to him again. There had been a few points during the day when she had feared she might not ever see him again. Now, though, she was absolutely certain they would never be apart.

"You're sure you're okay?" He asked softly as if he'd sensed the avenue of her thoughts. "I don't think I've ever been more afraid in my life than I was this afternoon when I realized you were gone. And when I found out who was responsible, I wanted to kill the sonafabitch. With my bare hands."

She nodded against his shoulder. "I was surprised, too, when the people from the FBI explained everything. But I'm okay, John. I was scared but that's all. Nobody hurt me. Chris locked me in the bedroom and left a couple of his goons outside. When the federal agents showed up, the two henchmen about wet themselves trying to surrender. Mike got in a couple of good licks on my behalf before they did, he must have been some kind of hell-raiser in his day."

"Mike?" John asked incredulously, pulling back far enough to gaze down into Milly's face. He didn't seem to believe her. "My Mike?" He echoed. "A hell-raiser?"

Milly nodded enthusiastically. "If his right hook is any indication, yes."

John gaped for a moment. "Boy that kid's been holding out on me. Had I but known, he and I could have been having a good time together. Gee, you think you know a guy."

"Anyway." Milly continued. "As I understand it, the bad guys are cooperating fully with the good guys now. All in all, I'd say the world is revolving just the way it's supposed to be."

John pulled her close again, tucking her head beneath his chin. "You got that right, sweetheart. You definitely got that right."

They danced in silence for some time, letting their hands slowly, surreptitiously explore each other, reacquainting themselves with fondly remembered places. At one point, Milly opened her eyes to see her sister and Mr. Mizanin, thought she supposed she should get used to thinking of him as Mike now, as they danced past, Mae looking happier and more at peace than Milly had ever seen her look. Mike, too, appeared to be in a place of utter bliss, so Milly closed her eyes again and melted into John. Everything, she thought, was exactly as it should be.

"I just realized something." John said suddenly.

"What's that?" She asked without opening his eyes. The rhythmic to and fro of their bodies was seductive, narcotic and she had no desire whatsoever to disturb her own place of utter bliss.

"We never danced at our prom." He told her.

She smiled. "No, we didn't, did we?"

"So that's two things we missed out on that night."

"But we're dancing now."

"So we are."

"And if you want." She added. "We could go out to the parking garage later and look around for a 1993 Chevy Lumina. I think that's what Adam was driving that night."

"Chevy Luminas are for kids." John told her. "Grown-ups are allowed much greater freedom."

Freedom, she thought. That was exactly what lay at the bottom of it all. That was why she was feeling so good right now. She was free of the past. Free of her less than pleasant memories. And now she was free to stop trying to recapture the girl she once was and free to become the woman she'd always had the potential to be. That, Milly decided, was where she would find her happiness. There and somewhere else, with someone else too.

She pulled her head back to look at John and he gazed down at her with undisguised affection. No, more than affection, she thought. What he felt for her was clear.

"I love you." She said.

He bent to brush his lips lightly over hers. "I love you too."

"We'll never be able to go back, will we, John?"

"No." He said. "We never will. But you know what, Milly?"

"What?"

"We can go forward. And something tells me that's a much better place to be."

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	39. Chapter 39

This is the final chapter of this story. I want to thank everyone who read, reviewed, alerted and favorited this story. You guys are awesome. Hope you like this chapter.

* * *

><p>At 3:00 a.m., Milly and John and Mae and Mike sat in the main salon of their suite, finishing up the last of the hors d'oeuvres and munchies and wine that room service had sent up just after midnight. They'd finished giving their statements to the authorities, had all explained to the absent parties how everything had come about and now all they wanted to do was relax. Well relax and then get on with the rest of their lives.<p>

The men had removed their shoes, their ties, their jackets, and the women had gone one further and changed into their sleepwear, a white cotton gown for Mae, ruby red silk pajamas for Milly. Milly couldn't speak for the others, but she was nearly hoarse with all the talking they had done. Never in a million years would she have guessed that Blond Chris Irvine was just a punk and a creep and a thug. And never in a million years would she have guessed that her sister, Mae would step in at the last minute and save the day.

"I still can't believe you remembered that stuff about Chris Irvine's boathouse." She said to her sister now. "But thank god you did."

Mae's expression went a little bleak as she replied. "I've never forgotten anything about prom night, Milly. And when Chris mentioned the boathouse again at the restaurant the other day. It just stuck in my head. I equated that boathouse with Chris's ugly deeds. I'm just glad he didn't hurt you."

"I wish he hadn't hurt you." Milly said softly. "And I wish you'd told me what happened on prom night."

"It's over." Mae said as she looked at Mike. "It's in the past and it's time to move on."

"And here I always just thought you were working as an office manager or something at that FBI facility. I mean, you never specified and it never occurred to me that you were an agent. Serves me right for making assumptions about the good, obedient, invisible twin."

"Daddy didn't know what I did there, either. And hey, I was sharing house with him."

"And speaking of your father." Mike interrupted. "Anybody know where he is?"

"He got as far as Atlanta." Mae said. "But he missed his connecting flight so he's kind of stranded. He knows Milly's okay though. And he told me not to worry. He had a plan."

"Oh great." Milly said. "We probably won't see him until the end of summer."

"Anyway, you couldn't have known about my job, Milly. Because like you said, I never told you and besides you were."

"Because I'd pretty much estranged myself from you and Daddy while I was married to Dave and barely ever saw you. Its okay, Mae. We can talk about it. And then, we can forget about it. As you said, it's in the past. That chapter of my life is over." Milly, too, turned her attention to John, who sat beside her, his fingers twined with hers. "I want to start thinking about the future, too. I'm just not real sure where that future will be taking place."

"You're really not going back to California?" Mae asked.

Milly shook her head, "California's not my home. It's never felt like home. It's not where I belong."

"So then where do you belong?" John asked.

She smiled. "With you." She said simply. "Wherever that winds up being."

He smiled back. "I'm glad to hear you say that, because you know, I've been thinking."

"Uh-oh." Mike interjected. "That can't be good."

John picked up a sofa pillow and threw it at his friend. "Now I know what I want to do is a good idea" He said.

"And just what is it you want to do?" Milly asked.

He gazed at her in thoughtful silence for a moment. "I want to leave Cincinnati and go somewhere else."

She narrowed her eyes at him curiously but a warm, wistful, sensation wandered through her whole body when she saw the look on his face. "Like where?"

"I don't know." He said. "But this last week on the road with you. It was a lot of fun, Milly. And I can't help thinking that maybe the two of us could have a lot more fun for a while just driving around. Having adventures. Getting to know each other. Living life. Enjoying life. I seem to recall a couple of ambitions from our senior yearbook that involved world travel and writing the Great American Novel."

"And we're going to be able to pay for this how?" She asked with a smile.

His grin broadened. "That'll be part of the adventure."

"Gee, I don't know John." She began. Though, in spite of her objection, she found herself warming to the idea.

"Hey, you charmed a lot of people there at Bonita's Pie Kitchen that night." He reminded her. "And I can bus tables like nobody's business. I bet we'd always be able to find work when we needed it."

"Plus." She said brightly. "My father is filthy, stinking rich. And I have a nice, fat trust fund."

"Well yes." John agreed with a grin. "There is that."

"But what about me?" Mike asked. "What am I supposed to do for a partner, if you abandon the business to go gallivanting across the country?"

As one, John and Milly turned to gaze expectantly at Mae.

"What?" Her sister asked. But she too was smiling.

"When we were kids." Milly said. "You always said you wanted to be in business for yourself."

"Yeah but I was thinking more along the lines of a Kool-Aid stand." Mae said. "There's not much overhead with that."

"And just a little while go. You were telling us about how you just sort of fell into your work at the FBI because they were on campus recruiting and you fit their 'lone wolf' profile so well. How you never really planned to stay with it your whole life."

"Yeah so?"

"So, you don't seem like such a 'lone wolf' anymore. And even if you did leave the field voluntarily, you looked like you were having way too good of time tonight, taking out the bad guy. I think you'd like to be in the field again or the equivalent. I think you and Mr. Mizanin here would probably do very well in business together."

"Business." Mike said with a smile. "Yeah, I think we could be good together there too. What do you say, Mae? Wanna start a partnership together?"

She gazed at him with much speculation, most of it very appreciative, Milly could tell, and then suddenly stood. "Maybe we should go upstairs and talk more about it. If you think you're ready I mean."

Mike nodded. "Well certainly we could talk about it. If you think you're ready."

"Only one way to find out." She told him.

Mike stood too, very eagerly, Milly noticed, linking his fingers with Mae's as he followed her up the stairs to the second level of the suite. Where the bedroom was, Milly recalled belatedly. Which left her and John down here with the sleeper sofa, she thought. Oh well. They could be creatively, she told herself. They didn't' have to use the sofa. The bar, for instance, showed great promise.

She turned her gaze toward the stairs Mae and Mike had just ascended. Hmm, those stairs showed promise too. "Boy who would have guessed Mae and Mike would hit it off so well? But they really do seem like they belong together."

"Hey." He said softly. "After what happened sixteen years ago, who would have thought you and I would hit it off so well? Who would have thought you and I belonged together?"

"You think we belong together?" She asked.

He arched his eyebrows in surprise. "Don't you?"

"Actually, John. Even sixteen years ago, even being as confused and befuddled by you as I was, I pretty much thought that you could be the one for me."

"The one what?" He asked with a smile.

She snuggled closer to him, lifting a hand to the third button of his shirt, where he'd halted his attentions when he'd made himself comfortable earlier.

"The one to be my soul mate." She said as she slipped the button free of its mooring. "The one to be my other half." She added as she freed the next one. "The one to be my Zen partner, the one to be the cream in my coffee, the one to make me totally complete." She enumerated as she liberated all the remaining buttons and running her hands over his chest. "I was just too young back then to realize what you were. What you would become to me."

He nodded, lifting a hand to twine his fingers through her blond hair. "I think we both had some growing up to do before we understood the importance, the significance, of what we had. In some ways, we were lucky to meet early in life. But we were just too young to know that."

She sighed as she snuggled closer to him. So do you think it would have lasted if we had made love on prom night? Or do you think we would have messed it up and ruined everything?"

John shook his head. "It doesn't matter what happened sixteen years ago, Milly. All that matters is what happens from here on out."

And then he bent his head to hers and covered her mouth with his. He kissed her deeply, druggingly, possessively. And more than anything, in that moment, Milly knew he was the one.

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